I 


The  Birds' 
Convention 


Harriet  Williams  Myers 


The  Birds' 
Convention 


By 


Harriet  Williams  Myers 

// 

Secretary   California  Audubon   Society 


With 
Illustrations  from  Photographs  by  the  Author 


Western  Publishing  Co., 

Publishers  "Out  West"  Magazine 

218  New  High  Street 

Los  Angeles,  Calif. 


BIOLOGY 

1.1BRARY 

G 


B10LOGV 

LIBRARY 
G 


Copyright  1913 
HARRIET  WILLIAMS  MYERS 


CHAPTER    1. 

THE  COMING  TOGETHER. 

"The  meeting  will  please  come  to  order."  It  was 
Mr.  Mockingbird  who  spoke  and,  instantly,  there 
was  quiet  among  the  birds. 

"I  think  you  all  know  why  we  are  here  assem- 
bled," began  Mr.  Mockingbird.  "It  is  to  hold  our 
First  Annual  Convention  of  the  birds.  All  our 
human  brothers  hold  meetings  which  they  call  'con- 
ventions,' and  from  what  I  hear  of  them,  they  are 
most  enjoyable  occasions.  Only  last  nigr#  the  mistress 
of  the  yard  where  Mrs.  Mocker  and  I  "dwell  and 
raise  our  families,  was  telling  her  mate  of  an  'affair/ 
as  she  called  it,  and  I  am  sure  it  must  have  been  ae- 
lightful." 

"Yes,  my  friends,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Mocker,  "our 
family" — meaning  the  humans  where  she  lived — 
"go  to  many  things  of  that  kind.  Only  a  short  time 
ago  the  daughter  went  on  a  moonlight  picnic,  a  thing 
we  would  not  care  to  do,  although  Mr.  Mocker  al- 
ways sings  these  spring  nights  and  would  not  mind  an 
evening  meeting,  I  suppose." 

"The  boy  at  our  house  often  goes  to  'games*  as  he 
calls  them,"  said  Mr.  Jay.  "He  is  a  football  player, 
whatever  that  may  be,  and  sometimes  he  comes  home 
all  bruised  up.  I  am  sure  that  nothing  of  that  kind 
will  happen  at  our  Convention,"  and  Mr.  Jay  tried  to 
look  meek. 

Mrs.  Goldfinch  whispered  to  her  neighbor  that  she 
guessed  if  Mr.  Jay  behaved  himself  the  others  would. 


7 


66870 


6  THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 

"I  am  sure,"  said  the  Chairman,  "that  nothing  but 
pleasant  and  friendly  sports  would  be  approved  by 
this  Convention.  Is  it  not  so,  Mr.  Brown  Towhee?" 

The  quakerlike  Towhee  arose  and  said  he  did  not 
approve  of  these  warlike  games.  He  and  his  family 
were  always  for  peace.  It  was  very  distressing 
to  him  to  think  that  his  human  brothers,  who  were, 
supposedly,  so  much  wiser,  should  enjoy  such  war- 
like sports. 


Mr.   Mockingbird 

"Those  of  us  who  have  had  this  meeting  in 
charge,"  said  Mr.  Mocker,  "thought  it  would  be 
well  to  have  our  business  meeting  first.  When  that 
is  finished  we  will  have  our  picnic-lunch,  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  an  evening  anthem  by  the  whole  assembly. 
Those  of  you  who  have  family  cares  then  can  go 
home.  We  wish  as  many  of  you  as  possible  to 
assemble  for  the  early  morning  chorus  at  4:30 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION  7 

o'clock.  We  want  this  to  be  the  grandest  chorus 
ever  known  in  this  section,  so  be  sure  to  come." 

"Our  family  is  not  much  on  singing,"  spoke  up 
Mr.  California  Woodpecker,  "so  we  would  not  be 
missed." 

"Indeed  you  would,  Mr.  Woodpecker!"  replied 
the  Chairman.  "It  is  the  united  effort  of  the  whole, 
each  adding  his  mite,  that  makes  the  grandest 
choruses.  We  shall  expect  you  all  to  come  whether 
you  are  noted  singers  or  not.  The  Thrushes  and 
Thrashers  will  be  here  to  lead  us,  so  I  am  sure  it 
will  be  a  success." 

It  was  noticed  by  the  assembly  that  he  modestly 
forbore  to  speak  of  his  own  brothers  who  would 
undoubtedly  do  more  than  any  of  the  others  to  swell 
the  chorus. 

"After  the  morning  chorus,"  continued  Chair- 
man Mocker,  "we  will  have  breakfast,  followed 
by  an  experience  meeting.  We  are  all  anxious  to 
know  what  has  happened  to  our  various  families 
during  the  past  winter.  We  shall  also  discuss  many 
subjects  that  will  interest  the  ladies,  such  as  'The 
Difficulties  of  Nest-building,'  *Trials  of  Young 
Mothers,'  *The  Audubon  Society,'  etc." 

"Mr.  Chairman,"  said  Mr.  Hooded  Oriole,  "I 
suppose  the  first  thing  to  come  before  the  meeting  is 
the  choosing  of  a  permanent  president.  Since  the 
holding  of  this  meeting  was  the  idea  of  Mr.  Mock- 
ingbird and  since  he  has  worked  so  hard  to  bring 
this  first  meeting  about,  I  move  that  Mr.  Harris 
Mockingbird  (the  first  name  indicating  his  home 
address)  be  made  President  of  this  Convention." 


8  THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION 

A  chorus  of  voices  seconded  this  motion  which 
was  put  by  Mr.  Oriole  and  unanimously  carried. 

"Speech!  Speech!"  arose  in  a  noisy  hubbub  from 
all  parts  of  the  house,  or  rather  woods,  for  this  was 
an  open-air  convention. 

"I  am  not  a  speech-maker,"  said  Mr.  Mocker, 
modestly.  "My  best  efforts  have  always  been  put 
forth  in  song.  However,  I  am  glad  to  thank  you 
for  this  great  honor  which  you  have  conferred  upon 
me.  It  will  be  my  pleasure  to  see  that  the  meetings 
are  carried  on  to  suit  the  greatest  number.  We 
found  it  very  hard  to  know  just  when  to  hold  this 
meeting.  Of  course,  to  us  resident  birds  it  did 
not  make  much  difference,  but  if  we  held  it  in  the 
wintertime  the  summer  visitants  could  not  attend; 
and  if  we  waited  until  summertime,  the  winter  visit- 
ants would  not  be  here.  As  it  is,  some  of  them  have 
not  been  able  to  wait.  The  Kinglet  family  nearly 
all  have  been  obliged  to  go  North,  although  they 
so  gladly  would  have  attended  this  meeting.  Some 
members  of  the  Thrush  family  also  have  had  to  go 
on.  Several  families  have  delayed  their  going  in 
order  that  they  might  be  here  today;  others  have 
arrived  earlier  than  usual  because  of  this  assembly." 

"Most  of  my  family  has  gone,"  spoke  up  Mr. 
White-crowned  Sparrow.  "I  was  chosen  a  dele- 
gate to  represent  them,  for  we  felt  that  so  important 
a  division  of  the  Sparrow  family  should  not  go 
unrepresented,  yet  it  seemed  unwise  for  many  of 
us  to  delay  our  trip  North.  Many  of  us  spend  the 
summer  in  Alaska,  you  know,"  he  said  with  just 
pride. 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION  9 

"Oh,  did  you  see  Captain  Peary  when  he  dis- 
covered the  Pole?"  asked  perky  Jenny  Wren,  all 
in  a  flutter. 


Mr.   White-crowned  Sparrow 

"Well,  no,  my  dear,"  replied  Mr.  Sparrow." 
You  see  in  the  first  place  the  pole  is  not  in  Alaska; 
and  in  the  second  place  no  bird  could  live  in  all 
the  ice  and  snow  that  Captain  Peary  lived  in.  The 
summer  climate  of  Alaska  is  delightful.  I  just  wish 
you  could  visit  us  some  time." 

Jenny  Wren  looked  crestfallen  after  this  expla- 
nation, and  several  were  disappointed  to  think  Mr. 
Sparrow  could  not  tell  of  a  personal  encounter  with 
the  great  explorer. 

"As  I  spent  last  summer  in  Alaska,"  continued 
Mr.  White-crowned  Sparrow,  "I  felt  willing  to  sum- 
mer farther  South,  so  did  not  need  to  start  so  early." 


10  THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION 

"And  I  have  remained  to  represent  my  family 
and  accompany  my  cousin  on  his  Northern  trip/* 
said  handsome  Mr.  Golden-crowned  Sparrow. 

"I,  also,  have  delayed  my  going,"  said  Mr.  Au- 
dubon  Warbler,  as  he  flitted  from  twig  to  twig. 

"I  believe  he  stayed  just  to  show  us  how  hand- 
some he  is  in  his  spring  suit,"  whispered  Mrs.  Wren 
to  her  neighbor.  "I  do  not  blame  him  one  mite," 
she  added,  as  she  glanced  from  her  own  modest 
garb  to  that  of  the  gay  little  warbler.  He  was,  in- 
deed, a  beauty  with  his  yellow  spots  on  crown,  rump, 
throat,  and  each  side  of  breast.  The  black  patches 
on  his  breast  and  his  bluedrab  back  also  added  to 
his  charming  looks. 

"Well,  he  hasn't  much  of  a  voice  if  he  is  so  hand- 
some," spoke  up  one  of  the  Mocker  family  who 
heard  the  comment.  "He  is  not  half  as  good  a 
singer  as  your  husband,  Mrs.  Wren." 

"Oh,  don't  you  think  so?"  asked  Mr.  Wren 
eagerly.  "I'm  glad  that  you  like  my  voice,  for  I  do 
enjoy  singing,  but  I  have  always  wished  that  I  might 
have  some  bright  color  about  me,  if  it  were  only  a 
few  feathers." 

"Better  be  content  with  what  Nature  has  given 
you,  my  dear,"  said  old  Mrs.  Blackbird.  "You 
ought  to  be  thankful  that  you  have  no  bright  plum- 
age to  make  all  the  ladies  wish  they  had  you  for 
their  hats,  and  render  you  an  easy  mark  for  bad 
boys  and  plume-hunters.  I  have  always  been 
thankful  that  I  was  ugly,  although,  to  be  sure,  that 

has  not  saved  our  family  from  being  made  into  pot 

»» 
pies. 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


11 


"Shee-ee!"  came  from  several  neighbors,  and 
the  two  stopped  their  talk  and  gave  attention  to  the 
speaker. 


Mrs.  Hummer 


"I  feel,"  Mr.  Mocker  was  saying,  "that  there 
should  be  a  number  of  committees  appointed  to  look 
after  the  affairs  of  next  year's  meeting.  We  shall 
need  a  committee  on  arrangements  whose  duty  it 
will  be  to  select  a  suitable  place  for  us  to  gather  and 
who  will  attend  to  all  arrangements.  A  refresh- 
ment committee  also  will  be  needed  to  see  that  there 
is  an  abundant  supply  of  suitable  food  at  hand. 
I—" 


12  THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION 

"Mr.  President/'  interrupted  Mr.  Thrasher,  "I 
suggest  that  you  combine  these  two  committees,  ap- 
pointing five  to  secure  a  suitable  location,  keeping 
our  victualing  needs  in  mind." 

"That  is  a  good  idea,  Mr.  Thrasher,  and  if  there 
is  no  objection,  I  will  appoint  such  a  committee." 

There  being  no  objection  the  Chairman  proceeded: 
"I  think  I  had  better  place  on  this  committee  three  res- 
ident birds  who  are  familiar  with  all  suitable  locali- 
ties, and  two  ladies,  the  fair  sex  knowing  best  where 
the  juicy  tidbits  are  to  be  found.  I  will  name  Mr. 
Thrasher,  Mr.  Flicker,  Mr.  Wren,  Mrs.  Swallow 
and  Mrs.  Bushtit.  I  should  like  this  committee  to  be 
ready  to  report  at  the  end  of  the  Convention." 

"I  think  I  had  better  be  excused  from  this  com- 
mittee, Mr.  President,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Bushtit,  "for 
I  have  a  nest  full  of  eggs  that  need  my  almost  con- 
stant attention.  I  slipped  away  only  for  a  few 
minutes  and  must  hurry  right  back.  Mr.  Bushtit, 
you  know,  never  broods  the  eggs,"  explained  the 
tiny  gray  bird  in  apology. 

"We  do  not  like  to  excuse  you,  Mrs.  Bushtit,  be- 
cause you  are  so  well  versed  in  the  best  foraging 
places  in  these  parts." 

"I  should  be  only  too  glad  to  help  but  family 
duties  must  come  first,  Mr.  President." 

"I  think,"  said  Mr.  Thrasher,  as  he  rose  from  his 
seat  on  the  ground,  "that  if  Mrs.  Bushtit  will  meet 
with  us  once  and  give  us  the  benefit  of  her  knowl- 
edge we  can  excuse  her  from  further  work  on  the 
committee." 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  13 

"Will  you  accept  on  these  conditions,  Mrs.  Bush- 
tit?"  asked  the  President. 

Mrs.  Bushtit  accepting,  the  President  proceeded 
with  the  appointment  of  other  committees.  On  the 
program  committee  were  placed  Mr.  Meadowlark, 
Mrs.  Long  T.  Chat,  Mr.  W.  Bluebird,  Mr.  Russet 
B.  Thrush  and  Mr.  H.  Finch.  After  due  discussion, 
it  was  decided  that  the  press  committee,  whose  busi- 
ness it  was  to  see  that  all  the  birds  knew  of  this  Con- 
vention, consisted  of  one  summer  visitor,  one  winter 
visitor,  one  resident  bird,  and  one  migrant,  each  bird 
to  spread  the  news  in  his  locality  wherever  he  spent 
his  time.  The  Chairman  then  announced,  "I  will 
place  on  this  committee  Mr.  Whitecrowned  Sparrow 
to  represent  the  winter  visitors.  Mr.  Sparrow,  we  will 
expect  you  to  take  North  with  you  the  notice  of 
our  next  meeting.  Mr.  Bullock  Oriole,  we  wish 
you  to  take  a  like  message  South  when  you  leave 
us  in  the  fall.  Mr.  W.  Tanager,  you  will  please 
take  this  message  North  with  you  now,  and  South 
when  you  go  next  fall.  To  represent  those  of  us 
who  are  always  here  I  will  place  Mr.  A.  Goldfinch. 
Of  course  all  of  those  who  are  present  will  tell  every 
bird  we  meet  during  the  coming  year  about  this 
present  meeting  and  urge  all  to  come  next  year." 

"Buzz,  buzz,  buzz,"  came  from  the  back  of  the 
audience  and  a  voice  that  seemed  loud  for  so  tiny 
a  feathered  mite,  said:  "Ought  we  not  to  have 
badges,  Mr.  President?  One  of  my  little  friends 
had  on  a  bright  red  one  the  other  day.  I  might 
not  have  known  about  it  but  I  thought  it  was  a 
flower  and  flew  right  up  to  it  before  I  saw  that  it 


14  THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION 

was  not,"  and  Mr.  Hummingbird  held  himself 
poised  motionless  in  the  air,  save  for  his  tiny  wings, 
which  he  beat  rapidly  to  support  his  body.  The 


Mrs.  Anna  Hummingbird  Who  Built  Her  Nest  on 
Two  Peaches 

clumsy  Blue  jay,  watching,  remarked  to  his  neigh- 
bor that  he  wished  he  could  do  that.  Mr.  Spar- 
row-Hawk whispered  back  that  it  was  not  so  hard 
as  it  looked.  He  could  do  it  and  often  did  when 
sighting  prey. 

"I  know,  Mr.  Hummer,"  said  the  President,  "that 
people  often  wear  badges  but  I  hardly  see  how  we 
could  wear  them.  What  does  the  Convention  think?" 

"I  hardly  think  we  could  wear  a  ribbon  badge;  it 
would  be  so  much  in  the  way  as  we  foraged 
among  the  trees  and  grass,"  said  Mrs.  Plain  Tit- 
mouse. 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  15 

"And  surely  we  could  not  fasten  a  button  to  our 
feathers,"  said  Mr.  Blackbird. 


Mr.  Brewer  Blackbird 

"I  would  suggest,"  said  Mrs.  Phainopepla,  senti- 
mentally, "that  it  be  the  duty  of  all  birds  attending 
this  Convention  to  keep  themselves  supplied  with  a 
fresh  flower  which  they  can  tie  about  their  necks." 

"We  might  adopt  a  Convention  flower,"  came 
from  the  audience. 

"I  should  like  the  poppy,"  spoke  up  shiny  Mr. 
Blackbird,  thinking,  no  doubt,  how  beautiful  a  yel- 
low flower  would  look  against  his  black  coat.  The 
tiny  hummingbird  brought  a  laugh  to  the  assembly 
by  saying  he  hardly  saw  how  he  could  manage  a 
poppy.  This  caused  the  President  to  say  that  he 
thought  the  idea  of  twining  a  flower  about  their  necks 
a  very  good  one,  and  he  suggested  that  as  many  as 


16  THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION 

could  do  so,  should  comply  with  this  request.  How- 
ever, he  did  not  think  that  it  should  be  compulsory. 
As  it  was  getting  late,  and  there  was  some  uneasi- 
ness in  the  audience,  the  President  declared  the  meet- 
ing adjourned  for  supper.  A  great  hubbub  immedi- 
ately arose  as  the  members  moved  about  greeting 
each  other  and  making  arrangements  for  their  even- 
ing meal. 


Mr.  Phainopepla 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  EVENING  MEAL. 

There  was  a  general  shifting  around  and  getting 
together  of  families,  while  everybody  chattered  or 
sang  as  they  found  suitable  eating  places.  The 
Goldfinch  family  drew  together  in  friendly  com- 
radeship and  opened  their  lunches  which  consisted 
of  seeds. 

"I  was  not  sure  that  we  would  find  any  seeds  near 
here,"  explained  Mrs.  Goldfinch,  as  she  passed  her 
basket  around.  You  know  our  family  does  not  care 
much  for  insects.  We  are  almost  vegetarians." 

"We,  too,  are  fond  of  seeds,"  spoke  up  Mr.  Lin- 
net," although  few  people  seem  to  realize  it,  and  we 
are  sentenced  by  law  and  even  denied  protection  be- 
cause sometimes  we  take  a  little  fruit." 

"It  is  an  awful  thing  to  think  we  are  different  from 
all  the  other  birds  and  are  not  considered  good  cit- 
izens," and  with  a  leaf  Mrs.  Linnet  wiped  a  tear 
from  her  eye. 

"And  to  think  that  all  through  the  winter  months 
Linnets  are  doing  so  much  good,  eating  the  seeds  of 
noxious  weeds,"  spoke  up  her  cousin  in  her  defence. 

"Mamma,  I'm  hungry,"  cried  a  small  gray  linnet. 

"Be  patient,  my  daughter;  you  will  have  some- 
thing soon.  They  do  not  care  for  seeds,  yet,"  said 
the  fond  mamma,  turning  to  Mrs.  Goldfinch,  "and 
so  I  brought  some  of  the  nice  bread-crumbs  which 
the  lady  at  our  house  keeps  out  for  us." 


18 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION 


"I  do  not  care  for  bread-crumbs,"  said  Mrs. 
Goldfinch.  "I  consider  the  grain  in  its  natural  state 
much  more  nutritious.*' 


Mrs.    Linnet's   Babies   at    the    Window-shelf 

"We  all  like  them,"  replied  Mrs.  Linnet.  "It  has 
been  such  a  help  for  the  babies.  As  soon  as  they 
could  fly  we  took  them  to  the  window-shelf  and 
taught  them  to  help  themselves  to  the  soft  bread. 
The  little  dears  are  so  fond  of  it."  The  begging 
for  bread  which  followed  this  announcement  proved 
the  truth  of  the  mother's  statement. 

The  Phainopepla  family  had  brought  berries; 
some,  those  of  the  pepper  tree ;  others,  the  blue  berries 
of  the  deadly  nightshade;  and  still  others,  elder- 
berries. 

"We  find  these  nightshades  very  nutritious,"  ex- 
plained Mrs.  Phainopepla.  "Papa  and  I  are  very 
fond  of  them.  Of  course,  we  like  insects,  too,  and 
no  doubt  can  find  some  here  for  dessert." 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  19 

"How  handsome  Mr.  Phainopepla  is,"  said  Mrs. 
Brown  Towhee,  as  she  glanced  from  her  demure, 
somber  mate  to  the  handsome  blackbird,  with  his 
jaunty  crest.  "They  say,  too,  that  he  is  as  good  as 
he  is  handsome.  A  very  unusual  combination,  I 
am  sure.  Just  to  think  he  builds  most  of  the  nest 
himself  and  will  hardly  allow  Mrs.  Phainopepla 
to  help  at  all." 

"My  dear,  you  know  I  always  want  to  help  you 
with  the  nest  building,"  said  Mr.  Brown  Towhee 
in  an  aggrieved  tone. 

"I  know  you  do,  husband,  but  I  prefer  to  do  it 
myself.  If  you  want  a  thing  well  done,  do  it  your- 
self, I  say." 

"Not  very  complimentary,"  said  her  good-natured 
spouse,  with  a  knowing  wink  to  his  cousin,  Mr. 
Spurred  Towhee. 

The  Cedar  Waxwing  family  were  seated  to- 
gether in  their  usual  gregarious  way  not  far  from 
their  distinguished  cousins,  the  Phainopeplas.  They, 
too,  were  eating  berries,  but  they  were  mostly  the 
red  berries  of  the  pepper-tree.  As  they  ate  they  dis- 
cussed the  relative  merits  of  the  Mountain-ash  berries 
and  the  fruit  of  the  pepper-tree. 

"For  my  part  I  am  very  fond  of  these  pepper  ber- 
ries," said  old  Mr.  Waxwing,  "and  they  are  said 
to  be  excellent  for  the  digestion.  To  be  sure  they 
have  not  the  delicate  flavor  of  the  Mountain-ash  ber- 
ries, but  I  like  them  best." 

"I  am  true  to  my  early  love,"  announced  Mrs. 
Waxwing.  "I  like  Mountain-ash  berries  best,  indi- 
gestion or  no." 


20 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


"How  do  you  know  so  much  about  the  Mountain- 
ash  berries,  Grandma,  dear?"  asked  a  young  bird. 
"I  have  never  seen  any  of  them." 

"I  suppose  you  have  not,  my  pet;  but  you  see 
Uncle  and  I  once  lived  in  the  East." 

"Oh,  do  tell  us  about  it,"  cried  several  of  the 
younger  birds  who  had  not  heard  the  story.  The 
elders  exchanged  knowing  glances,  for  to  them  the 
story  was  an  old  and  tiresome  one.  Grandma  Wax- 
wing,  however,  never  neglected  to  tell  the  wonder- 
ful tale  when  she  had  a  listener  and  prepared  now 
with  as  much  zest  and  enthusiasm  as  if  she  had  never 
told  it  before. 


One  of  the  Phainopeplas 

"You  see,"  she  began,  "something  happened  to 
our  parents  when  we  were  very  young,  and  a  kind 
lady  adopted  us.  She  dearly  loved  birds  and  knew 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  21 

just  how  to  care  for  us,  which  most  mortals  do  not, 
and  so  we  lived  and  learned  to  love  our  benefactress 
very  much,  indeed.  We  were  so  tame  and  knew  so 
little  about  taking  care  of  ourselves  that  our  mistress 
did  not  dare  let  us  out,  even  when  we  were  grown, 
and  when  she  moved  West  we  were  brought  in  a 
cage  all  the  way.  It  was  fall  when  we  reached 
California  and  all  winter  long  it  was  so  nice  and 
warm  that  we  lived  out  of  doors  in  a  big  cage  built 
for  us.  Often  large  flocks  of  our  relatives  would 
come  to  eat  in  the  pepper-trees  that  grew  above  our 
cage.  At  first  we  were  afraid  of  them,  but  gradu- 
ally, we  lost  all  fear  and  became  quite  well  ac- 
quainted. They  used  to  light  on  the  cage  and  tell 
us  how  nice  it  was  to  be  able  to  fly  just  where  you 
pleased.  As  Spring  approached  they  told  of  the 
trip  North  that  they  would  soon  take  and  begged 
us  to  join  them.  I  did  not  think  that  it  would  be 
right  to  leave  our  dear  mistress,  but  as  Spring  ad- 
vanced, I  did  have  a  longing  to  get  out  and  try  my 
wings  in  real  flight.  It  was  spring- fever,  I  guess;  that 
is  what  Mistress  called  it,  anyway.  To  make  me 
more  uneasy,  one  of  the  flock  of  birds  took  a  special 
fancy  to  me.  He  was  a  beautiful  bird  and  he  used 
to  bring  me  berries  and  feed  them  to  me  through  the 
bars  of  the  cage.  Finally,  brother  and  I  became  so 
uneasy  that  Mistress  told  her  mate  that  she  thought 
she  ought  to  let  us  out.  She  said  that  it  was  such  a 
mild  climate  that  she  believed  we  would  get  along 
all  right  and  she  was  sure  Nature  was  calling  us.  So, 
one  day,  she  left  the  cage  open  and  the  flock  of  birds, 
my  lover  among  them,  begged  so  hard,  that  we  joined 


22  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

them.  Mistress  cried  when  she  saw  us  go  and  we 
felt  so  sorry  to  leave  her  that  we  went  back  twice 
and  lighted  on  her  shoulder.  Several  times  after 
that,  also,  we  left  the  flock  and  went  to  her,  and  she 
was  so  pleased  and  called  us  'her  darlings'  and  said 
she  hated  so  to  lose  us,  but  knew  it  was  best  for 
us  to  go.  At  first  it  seemed  so  queer  for  us  to  be 
with  a  flock  of  our  kind  flying  about.  There  were 
so  many  new  things  for  us  to  see  that  it  was  a  con- 
stant delight.  We  learned,  too,  that  there  were  dan- 
gers to  be  encountered  and  that  we  must  look  out  for 
cats,  and  boys  with  sling-shots,  and  men  with  guns. 
Of  course,  we  are  protected  by  law  in  this  State,  but 
in  some  places  there  is  no  one  to  see  that  the  law  is 
enforced  and  we  have  to  look  out.  One  reason  that 
we  like  to  come  here  is  because  there  is  an  Audubon 
Society  near  by  and  members  will  not  let  any  one 
hurt  us.  We  feel  so  safe  in  this  locality.  Well, 
finally,  it  was  time  to  go  North,  and  we  all  went  to- 
gether. We  flew  to  our  old  home  for  a  last  farewell. 
Our  Mistress  was  in  the  house,  and  we  saw  her 
through  the  window.  She  looked  so  sweet  and  pretty 
that  I  was  almost  tempted  to  go  back  and  stay  with 
her,  but  when  I  looked  at  my  beautiful  lover,  I  de- 
cided to  follow  him.  That  is  all  of  the  story,  my 
dears." 

"That  was  fine,"  said  one. 

"Did  you  see  that  lady  when  you  came  back  the 
next  spring?"  asked  another. 

"Yes,  the  first  thing  brother  and  I  did  when  we 
returned  South  the  next  winter  was  to  return  to  our 
old  home.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  there  sat  our 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  23 

dear  Mistress  in  the  yard  holding  such  a  dear  little 
baby.  I  longed  to  go  and  tell  her  that  I  had  three 
little  dears  of  my  own.  The  babies  were  with  us  and 


Mrs.  California  Towhee 

I  wanted  to  take  them  to  her,  but  they  were  shy  and 
would  not  go.  You  know  children  never  will  show 
off  when  you  want  them  to.  Just  as  soon  as  Mistress 
heard  us,  she  looked  up  and  exclaimed:  'Oh,  look, 
baby  dear,  the  Cedar  Birds  are  back!  I  wonder  if 
Fluffy  and  Bright-eyes  are  in  that  flock?'  and  she 
gave  the  call  she  used  to  have  for  us.  It  seemed  so 
natural  to  brother  and  me  that  we  both  flew  out 
from  the  flock  before  we  realized  what  we  were 
doing  and  circled  about  near  her.  She  was  so  de- 
lighted and  cried :  *  You  darling  birds !  I  am  so  glad 
that  you  are  safe  and  happy.  I  am  just  sure  that 
those  were  my  birds,'  I  heard  her  say  to  the  baby, 


24 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


as  our  flock  flew  away.  Some  one  else  was  in  the 
house  when  we  returned  another  year,  so  I  suppose 
Mistress  had  moved  somewhere  else.  I  am  always 
on  the  lookout  for  her,  but  I  fear  I  shall  not  see  her 
again." 

"You  were  never  sorry  that  you  left  her,  were  you, 
Grandma?'*  asked  one  of  the  birds. 

"No,  indeed.  A  bird's  place  is  in  the  open  as 
Nature  intended." 


Master  Grosbeak 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  FRIENDLY  DISCUSSION. 

The  Thrasher  family  had  not  brought  any  lunch 
and  forthwith  set  about  thrashing  among  the  dead 
leaves  beneath  the  trees  with  their  long,  crooked 
bills. 

"We  were  sure  that  we  could  find  enough  grubs 
for  our  supper,"  said  one  of  the  gentlemen,  "  and 
they  are  so  much  better  when  fresh.  They  shrivel 
and  lose  their  delicious  flavor  when  kept  long." 

"I  suppose  you  never  thought  of  the  noise  you 
would  make  with  all  your  digging,"  said  Mr.  Jay, 
saucily. 

"I  am  sure  we  do  not  mind  it  in  the  least,"  said 
several  of  the  birds  hurriedly,  to  assure  Mrs. 
Thrasher,  who  had  at  once  stopped  her  work. 

"I  never  thought  of  its  disturbing  anybody,"  she 
said  sorrowfully.  "Come,  children,  we  can  just  as 
well  go  to  another  tree,**  and  away  she  flew,  fol- 
lowed by  three  promising  young  ones,  who  were  as 
large  as  herself  and  looked  just  like  her. 

"I  think  it  was  a  shame  for  Mr.  Jay  to  say  any- 
thing to  lovely  Mrs.  Thrasher,**  said  Mrs.  Black 
Phoebe.  "She  is  so  sweet  and  quiet  when  not 
thrashing  among  the  leaves,  and  she  would  not  have 
been  noticed  above  the  din  we  are  making.  It  is  a 
shame  to  hurt  her  feelings." 

"What  a  beautiful  voice  Mr.  Thrasher  has,"  said 
Mrs.  Western  Flycatcher.  "You  know  I  am  not 
a  resident  here  and  only  pass  through  these  parts 


26 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


while  traveling,  and  though  the  fame  of  his  voice 
has  reached  me  in  my  distant  home,  I  never  happened 
to  hear  him  until  this  spring." 

"Can  that  be  possible?"  answered  his  cousin,  Mrs. 
Wood  Pewee.  "I  nest  in  a  tree  above  his  favorite 
foraging  ground  and  am  often  put  to  sleep  by  his 
sweet  voice.  I  suppose  I  appreciate  it  the  more  be- 
cause Mr.  Pewee  and  I  are  not  singers.  None  of  our 
family  are." 

"That  is  a  thing  I  have  always  neglected,"  spoke 
up  Mr.  Arkansas  Kingbird.  "Mrs.  Kingbird  and 
I  try  hard  enough  to  be  musical,  but  with  little  suc- 
cess, I  fear." 

"I  should  say  so,"  whispered  Mr.  Grosbeak,  an 
authority  on  musical  matters.  "Such  a  noise  as  the 


Little  Miss  Grosbeak 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  27 

Kingbirds  make.  They  are  very  devoted  to  each 
other,  and  want  everyone  to  know  it;  so  they  keep 
up  a  continuous  chattering.  I  did  not  know  before 
that  they  were  trying  to  sing!"  and  handsome  Mr. 
Grosbeak  chuckled  at  the  idea. 

"Mrs.  Vireo  and  I  always  get  our  home  as  far 
away  as  possible  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kingbird  just 
on  that  account,"  said  dainty  Mr.  Warbling  Vireo. 

"I  should  think  you  would,  Mr.  Vireo,"  replied 
Mr.  Grosbeak.  "Your  family  are  real  singers." 

"Indeed,  you  are!"  said  Mrs.  Summer  Warbler, 
joining  in  the  conversation.  "I  always  envy  you  your 
ability  to  sing.  I  get  so  tired  of  my  monotonous 
ci-d-ci." 

"Well,  Mrs.  Summer  Warbler,"  replied  Mr. 
Vireo,"  if  I  were  as  handsome  as  you  are  I  should 
not  care  whether  I  sang  or  not,"  and  the  modest- 
plumaged  gray  bird  cast  longing  eyes  upon  the  beau- 
tiful yellow  one  near  by. 

"I  suppose,"  replied  Mr.  Warbler,  "that  there 
are  compensations  in  Nature.  Those  who  have  the 
brightest,  most  beautiful  plumage  do  not  have  the 
sweetest  voices,  and  those  of  us  who  have  the  sweet- 
est voices  lack  the  bright  plumage." 

"I  have  often  thought  of  that,"  said  Mr.  Vireo. 
"However,  there  are  exceptions,  of  course.  I  think 
the  Grosbeak  family  might  come  under  that  head 
since  they  are  bright-plumaged  and  exceptional 
singers,  also." 

"Many  bright  plumaged  birds  have  sweet  songs," 
spoke  up  a  jolly  little  Chickadee. 


28  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

"Indeed  they  do!"  said  Mr.  Mocker,  entering 
into  the  discussion;  "but  few  of  them  are  really  noted 
singers  like  the  Nightingales,  Thrashers,  Thrushes, 
and  members  of  my  own  immediate  family." 


The  Shrike  Twins 

What  promised  to  be  a  most  interesting  discussion 
was  cut  short  by  the  passing  overhead  of  Mr.  Sharp- 
shinned  Hawk.  Instantly  the  smaller  birds  became 
as  rigid  as  statues  so  that  they  would  not  attract  Mr. 
Hawk's  attention,  while  the  Policeman  Blackbirds 
and  Kingbirds  set  off  to  chase  the  intruder.  Soon 
he  was  ducking  and  dodging  to  escape  the  blows 
from  their  bills,  which  they  were  using  to  good  ad- 
vantage. The  birds  of  the  Convention,  feeling  that 
all  danger  was  passed,  set  up  their  cheerful  chatter 
again,  continuing  their  evening  meal  and  their 
friendly  intercourse.  The  Jays  for  their  meal  ate 
walnuts  which  they  had  brought  from  their  home 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  29 

trees.  Some  of  them  had  acorns  from  the  oak  trees 
and  others  ate  beans  from  the  castor-oil  bean  trees. 
These  they  wedged  into  a  crack  or  against  some  firm 
substance  and  pounded  into  bits  with  their  strong 
bills. 

"How  powerful  Mr.  Jay  is,"  said  Mr.  Cliff  Swal- 
low, admiringly.  "Perhaps  it  would  be  better  for 
him  if  he  were  not  so  able  to  crack  nuts,"  said  one 
of  the  party.  "You  know  it  is  because  of  his  fond- 
ness for  gathering  almonds  that  he  is  not  given  pro- 
tection." 

"Well,  for  my  part,  I  would  be  glad  if  he  would 
confine  himself  to  taking  nuts  and  not  sometimes 
sample  birds'  eggs,"  said  Mrs.  Western  Gnatcatcher. 

"Now,  my  dear,"  spoke  up  Mr.  Gnatcatcher, 
"You  know  we  have  never  really  seen  Mr.  Jay  tak- 
ing any  eggs,  and  it  is  best  not  to  accuse  him  when 
we  are  not  sure." 

"Well,  I  suppose  not,  but  I  do  not  like  him  any- 
way," and  the  lady  darted  out  after  a  tempting  gnat 
that  came  her  way. 

Soon  after  this,  Mr.  Shrike  electrified  the  company 
by  dropping  from  a  high  post  on  which  he  was 
perched  into  the  grass  below  and  returning  with  a 
large  Jerusalem  cricket,  or  potato  bug. 

"Wee-e!"  cried  a  number  of  small  birds,  "what 
an  awful  creature!  How  dare  Mr.  Shrike  touch  it?" 

"Isn't  he  brave  though!"  said  a  tiny  Bushtit. 

"How  can  he  touch  the  horrid  thing?"  queried 
Mrs.  Costa  Hummer.  Such  a  repulsive  creature," 
and  she  buzzed  about  above  the  heads  of  the  others 
in  great  excitement. 


30  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

The  Shrike,  paying  no  attention  to  all  this  hubbub, 
placed  one  foot  on  the  dead  insect  and  with  his 


Mrs.  Shrike's  Happy  Family 

hooked  bill  tore  it  into  bits,  which  he  ate  with  evi- 
dent relish. 

"Did  you  know,  whispered  Mrs.  Blackbird  to 
Mrs.  Varied  Thrush,  "that  Mr.  Shrike  is  a  very  fine 
singer?" 

"No,  indeed!  I  thought  he  gave  only  a  most  un- 
canny call.  Can  he  really  sing?*' 

"Yes,  he  has  quite  a  musical  little  song.  It  seems 
queer  to  think  of  its  coming  from  such  a  hooked 
bill." 

The  California  Woodpecker  family,  like  the  Jays, 
were  eating  acorns.  These  they  had  brought  from 
a  near-by  tree  where  they  had  them  stored;  each 
nut  tightly  fitting  into  a  snug  hole  which  they  had 
chiseled  out  for  it  and  into  which  they  had  pounded 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  31 

it  with  their  strong  beaks.  "Carpenter  birds"  they 
were  rightly  called  by  their  companions.  Occasion- 
ally one  of  the  large  clumsy  birds  would  fly  out 
from  the  crowd  and  come  back  with  a  tiny  insect 
added  to  his  portion  of  nuts,  for  these  birds  are  also, 
sometimes,  flycatchers. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Red-shafted  Flicker  were  intent 
upon  eating  ants  from  burrows  in  the  ground  which 
they  had  hunted  out.  It  seemed  queer  work  for  so 
large  birds,  but  it  was  their  choice. 


The  Hummingbird  Tzvins 

"Did  you  know  that  sometimes  Mr.  Flicker  eats 
as  many  as  3000  ants  at  a  time?"  said  Mrs.  Tit- 
mouse to  her  cousin,  Mrs.  Wrentit. 

"Indeed,  no !  Can  it  be  possible?"  exclaimed  that 
birdie. 


32  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

"Yes,"  continued  Mrs.  Titmouse,  "I  heard  a 
teacher  reading  that  to  her  pupils  one  day  as  I  for- 
aged in  a  tree  near  the  window  of  a  schoolhouse." 

"Isn't  it  strange,"  spoke  up  Mr.  Robin,"  that  in 
the  East  the  Flicker  family  have  yellow  under  their 
wings  and  tail  while  in  the  West  they  have  red?" 

"Well,  I  should  say  so!"  exclaimed  several  birds. 

"The  Flickers  are  very  handsome,  but  they  are 
not  singers,"  said  Mrs.  Bluebird.  I  remember  once 
that  my  babies  were  nearly  scared  into  hysterics  by 
their  call.  Such  a  time  as  I  had  quieting  the  little 
dears." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kingfisher,  who  had  made  a  special 
effort  to  be  present  at  this  first  convention,  excused 
themselves  to  the  President  and  flew  to  the  near-by 
stream  for  their  meal.  "It  was  hardly  possible  to 
bring  enough  fish  for  our  lunch,"  explained  Mr. 
Kingfisher.  "You  know  fish  to  be  really  good  must 
be  fresh.  Mrs.  Kingfisher  and  I  are  very  particular 
about  our  food.  In  this  day  of  so  much  ptomaine 
poisoning  one  can  not  be  too  careful." 

"No,  indeed,"  agreed  Mr.  Mocker.  "We  hope 
that  you  will  come  back  for  the  evening  anthem." 

"Thank  you,"  replied  Mrs.  Kingfisher.  "It  will 
hardly  be  worth  while.  You  know  we  are  not  a 
musical  family.  Our  presence  would  only  produce 
discord." 

When  Mr.  Mocker  politely  demurred,  Mrs. 
Kingfisher  promised  that  they  would  return  for  the 
morning  chorus,  and  so  with  farewells  to  all  the 
birds,  they  flew  away. 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  33 

"There  is  a  pretty  legend  connected  with  the 
Kingfisher  family,"  said  Mr.  Dove. 

"Oh,  what  is  it,"  cried  several  of  the  younger 
birds.  "We  never  heard  it." 


Mr.  Blackbird's  Son 

"It  is  said  that  originally  all  the  members  of  this 
family  were  clothed  in  dull  colored  plumage,  but 
the  Kingfisher  that  was  liberated  from  Noah's  Ark 
flew  toward  the  setting  sun.  On  its  back  was  re- 
flected the  blue  sky,  while  its  breast  was  scorched 
by  the  rays  of  the  heat-giving  orb." 

"Humph!  I  don't  believe  that,"  said  prosaic  Mr. 
Blackbird.  "I  never  was  much  of  a  believer  in  leg- 
ends, anyhow." 

"It  is  a  very  pretty  story,  whether  it  is  true  or  not," 
said  Mrs.  W.  Tanager. 


34  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

"Perhaps  Mr.  Dove  can  tell  us  as  to  its  authen- 
ticity, since  his  family  played  so  important  a  part  in 
the  history  of  the  Ark,"  suggested  Mr.  Mocker. 

"No,  I  am  afraid  that  I  cannot  verify  the  story," 
replied  Mr.  Dove.  It  is  one  of  the  legends  which 
has  been  handed  down  in  our  family  from  the  begin- 
ning of  time  and  none  of  us  have  ever  questioned 
its  truth.  Had  we  done  so,  I  suppose  our  Fore- 
father who  was  liberated  from  the  Ark  could  have 
given  us  the  correct  information." 

"Well,  I'm  going  to  ask  Mr.  Kingfisher  about  it 
when  I  see  him  next,"  said  Mr.  Blackbird,  not  quite 
satisfied. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BIRD  CHORUSES. 

Mr.  Mockingbird,  seeing  that  all  the  birds  had 
finished  their  evening  meal  and  were  beginning  to 
look  about  for  night  quarters,  called  the  Assembly 
together  for  the  "Retiring  Anthem." 

"I  would  like  every  one  to  sing,"  he  announced, 
"and,  remember,  this  will  close  the  first  day  of  our 
annual  Convention.  Tomorrow  morning  we  wish 
you  all  to  awaken  early  and  be  ready  to  join  in  the 
grand  'Daybreak  Chorus.'  We  will  close  promptly 
at  noon,  so  that  those  of  you  who  stayed  over  for 
this  meeting  will  be  no  longer  delayed.  We  want 
you  to  come  another  year  so  we'll  do  our  best  to 
please  you.  Our  Retiring  Anthem  tonight  opens 
with  a  song.  Mr.  Russet-backed  Thrush,  will  you 
please  lead  us?" 

In  answer,  the  liquid  notes  of  the  Thrush  rang 
clear  and  loud  on  the  still  twilight  air,  but  no  sooner 
had  he  opened  up  his  theme  than  his  voice  was 
drowned  by  the  many  who  joined  in.  The  mortals 
living  nearby  marvelled  at  this  unusual  music  of  birds. 

"Listen  to  that  wonderful  music,  mother  dear," 
said  one  of  them.  "Does  it  not  take  you  back  to  old 
New  England?" 

"Hark,  I  hear  a  Thrush!"  in  awed  tones,  whis- 
pered the  mother,  who  was  able  to  discern  the  voice 
of  her  favorite  even  among  the  many  others.  To- 
gether, motionless,  they  listened  to  the  liquid  notes 
of  that  marvelous  singer  as  they  floated  up  to  them. 


36  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

The  chorus  was  not  long,  for  the  twilight  hours 
were  short,  and  most  of  the  members  of  the  Conven- 
tion ready  for  sleep.  A  few  individuals,  however, 
kept  up  the  music  far  into  the  night.  The  Mocker 
family  were  the  principal  singers,  but  Mr.  Long- 
tailed  Chat  also  kept  up  his  loud  whistling  to  the  mys- 
tification of  some  of  his  human  listeners.  Now  he 
whistled  exactly  like  a  man  calling  a  dog,  the  imita- 
tion being  so  perfect  that  those  who  knew  marvelled 
that  a  bird  could  make  such  a  human  call;  now  it 
was  a  dog  answering,  with  a  hoarse  bark,  a  call  even 
more  wonderful  than  the  whistle ;  now  it  was  a  more 
bird-like  chatter,  or  call. 

With  the  coming  of  daylight  the  Daybreak 
Chorus  was  rendered  with  surprising  vigor.  In  mel- 
odious waves  it  rolled,  increasing  in  volume  as  the 
various  songsters  awoke  and  added  their  voices. 


Mrs.  Arkansas  Goldfinch  and  Family 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  37 

Awakened  from  their  slumbers  were  many  human 
beings.  Some  grumbled  to  be  so  aroused  and  wished 
the  birds  were  voiceless;  others,  filled  with  delight 
at  this  glorious  outburst,  lay  and  drank  it  in,  for- 
getting that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  sleep. 

Mr.  Linnet  was  pouring  forth  his  soul  in  wild 
ecstasy,  the  refrain  bubbling  forth  in  an  unceasing 
strain  which  was  taken  up  and  borne  along  by  his 
brother  Linnets.  The  jolly  little  Goldfinches  were 
singing  "Sweet,  Sweet,"  to  their  mates  who  answered 
"Dear,  Dear,"  thereby  causing  the  males  to  sing 
forth  in  joyous  babbling.  "It  is  just  good  to  be 
alive,"  they  seemed  to  say.  The  Wrens,  not  to  be 
out-done  by  the  happy  Finches,  were  nearly  splitting 
their  tiny  throats,  and  a  melodious  song  came  bub- 
bling forth  which  delighted  all  listeners.  Their 
cousins,  the  Thrashers,  were  adding  their  mite,  and 
a  glorious  contribution  it  was.  The  Vireos  sang 
loud  melodious  songs,  stopping  now  and  again,  how- 
ever, to  hear  those  birds  whom  they  had  never  be- 
fore heard  sing,  but  whose  fame  had  reached  them. 
The  Ruby-crowned  Kinglets,  who  had  remained, 
were  so  engrossed  with  the  other  performers  that 
for  a  time  they  forgot  to  sing,  but,  suddenly,  one  lit- 
tle midget  .opened  his  tiny  bill  and  the  loud  har- 
monious song  that  came  forth  made  more  than  one 
bird  stop  and  listen.  "Exquisite!"  exclaimed  Mr. 
Grosbeak.  "I  had  no  idea  the  Kinglet  family  had 
such  fine  voices.  You  see  they  usually  go  North 
before  I  arrive  and  so  I  have  never  heard  them  be- 
fore. How  marvelous  that  so  loud  a  song  can  come 
from  so  tiny  a  bird."  As  if  to  show  that  size  did 


38 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


not  count,  Mr.  Anna  Hummer  began  his  squeeky, 
wheezy  song.  "Teedle,  teedle,  teedle,  Chirrup,  chir- 
rup, chirrup,"  he  sang,  again  and  again,  making 
some  of  the  large  birds  smile  in  amusement. 


Mrs.  Hummingbird 

Mr.  B.  Oriole  was  singing  his  short,  sweet  song, 
while  his  cousin,  Mr.  Hooded  Oriole,  was  trying 
to  be  heard,  but  so  low  and  whisper-like  was  his 
warble,  that  he  made  little  impression.  Mr.  Califor- 
nia Woodpecker  cackled,  "Ja-cab,  Ja-cab"  in  his 
loud  voice,  varying  this  call  by  a  purring,  guttural 
one.  The  Jays  joined  in  with  their  unpleasant  call, 
which  did  not  add  to  the  musical  part  of  the  per- 
formance. The  Kingfishers  true  to  their  word,  had 
returned  for  the  morning  chorus,  but  were  considerate 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  39 

enough  not  to  do  much  "singing."  Only  an  occa- 
sional hard  rattling  noise  told  of  their  presence.  The 
Meadowlarks  were  singing  their  musical  songs,  pro- 
•claiming  in  no  uncertain  way,  the  coming  of  daylight. 
Theirs  was  a  glorious  song,  and  because  of  its  car- 
rying qualities,  was  heard  by  many  a  listening  mortal. 
Phoebes  and  Wood-Pewees,  anxious  to  contrib- 
ute their  share,  were  doing  their  best,  which,  however, 
was  only  a  single  plaintive  note.  Song-Sparrows 
sang  hilariously,  doing  much  to  make  this  Daybreak 
Chorus  a  success.  Phainopeplas  sang  their  weak  lit- 
tle song,  Cedar  Waxwings  "sighed"  from  the  tree- 
tops  where  they  were  congregated,  Spurred  Towhees 
trilled  and  "skee-ed"  from  the  underbrush,  in  short, 
all  did  their  very  best  to  make  a  glorious  chorus. 
Roundelay  after  roundelay,  pealed  forth  from 
countless  throats  until  the  sun  had  peeped  forth  from 
his  nightly  couch  and  with  his  cheerful  face  had 
driven  away  the  shadows.  Not  till  then  did  the 
chorus  cease.  With  the  coming  of  the  sun  the  hungry 
birds  fell  to  eating.  Indeed,  they  had  earned  their 
breakfasts. 


CHAPTER  V.  ' 

THE  TRIALS  OF  NEST-BUILDING. 

Promptly  at  eight  o'clock  Mr.  Mockingbird  called 
the  Convention  to  order  for  the  morning  session. 
Rather  early  it  would  have  seemed  to  their  human 
brothers,  but  since  the  birds  had  awakened  so  early, 
all  had  had  their  breakfasts,  and  there  being  no  dishes 
to  wash,  or  houses  to  put  in  order,  they  were  ready 
for  business. 

"Now,"  began  Mr.  Mocker,  "we  are  anxious  to 
hear  from  all  the  families  in  order  to  know  how  you 
have  fared  during  the  past  year.  Undoubtedly,  some 
of  you  have  met  with  sorrows ;  others,  I  am  sure,  will 
have  nothing  but  joys  to  report.  In  order  to  hear 
from  all  you  must  speak  rapidly,  leaving  out  that 
which  will  not  be  of  especial  interest." 

Scarcely  had  he  ceased  speaking  when  there  arose 
a  great  hubbub  from  those  assembled,  each  being 
anxious  to  tell  his,  or  her,  story. 

"One  at  a  time,  please,"  laughed  the  Chairman. 
"Mrs.  Swallow,  we  will  be  glad  to  hear  from  you." 

Instantly  there  was  quiet,  each  bird  wishing  to 
hear  Mrs.  Swallow's  story. 

"Well,"  began  Mrs.  Cliff  Swallow,  "my  story  is 
not  altogether  a  pleasant  one.  You  know  we  go 
South  every  fall.  We  had  a  very  nice  time  during 
the  past  winter  and  spring.  The  people  down  South 
like  our  family  and  try  to  be  good  to  us  because  we 
eat  so  many  of  the  cotton-boll  weevils  that  destroy 
the  cotton  crop.  We  are  fond  of  these  weevils  and 
catch  them  as  they  fly  about  the  cotton,  thus 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  41 

saving  the  crop  for  more  than  one  planter.  But  when 
we  come  North  to  nest  we  are  not  always  treated 
so  well.  Some  people  object  to  our  building  our 
nests  under  the  eaves  of  their  buildings  and  drive  us 
away.  That  is  not  so  bad  because  we  can  try  some- 
where else  but  some  people  are  so  cruel  as  to  let  us 
build  our  nests,  and  then,  when  our  babies  are  small, 
they  tear  down  our  homes,  killing  very  many  of  our 
young  and  leaving  others  to  be  eaten  by  prowling 
cats.  It  is  so  discouraging,"  and  the  little  Swallow 
sighed. 

"Sometimes  when  we  nest  on  school-houses  they 
even  allow  the  children  to  kill  us,"  spoke  up  a  mem- 
ber of  the  family.  "Most  school-houses  do  not  have 


Mrs.  Cliff -swalloiv's  Babies 


screens,  and  the  flies  bother  the  children  so  they  can 
not  study,  and  yet  they  will  not  let  us  stay  and  eat 
the  flies,"  said  a  third. 


42  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

"The  flies  carry  disease,  too,"  said  another. 

"Some  people  like  us,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Cliff -Swal- 
low. "I  know  a  lady  who  was  very  kind  to  one  of 
our  nestlings  that  had  fallen  from  the  nest  and  been 
picked  up  by  a  passing  child.  This  lady  who  cared 
for  Birdikin  made  food  for  him  of  the  yolk  of  a 
hard-boiled  egg  and  a  potato  mashed  together." 

"What  a  queer  food." 

"Yes,  it  sounds  queer,  but  Birdikin  said  it  tasted 
very  good.  Then  the  whole  family  caught  flies  for 
him  and  it  was  a  great  deal  of  work  because  they 
had  so  few  flies.  They  searched  in  the  yard  and 
even  went  to  the  neighbors  to  beg  flies." 

"I  wish  I  had  found  that  place  to  build,"  said  one 
of  the  Swallows,  who  had  had  such  a  time  trying 
to  build  her  nest. 

"I  know  just  how  to  sympathize  with  you,"  spoke 
up  Mrs.  Black  Phoebe.  "It  seemed  as  if  I  never 
should  get  my  nest  built  this  last  spring.  I  picked 
out  a  place  over  a  window  which  we  had  used  suc- 
cessfully the  year  before  to  raise  our  three  broods  in, 
and  began  carrying  mud  and  fiber  for  a  new  nest.  I 
had  worked  a  couple  of  days  on  it  when  a  family, 
who  had  just  moved  in,  turned  the  hose  on  my  house 
and  knocked  it  down.  They  gave  as  their  excuse  that 
they  had  just  painted  the  house  and  we  would  make 
it  dirty.  The  lady  said  also  that  there  were  plenty 
of  trees  for  us  to  build  in,  which  was  true,  only  we 
Phoebes  always  build  a  mud  nest  which  we  fasten 
onto  some  building.  We  do  not  care  for  trees. 
Well,  I  tried  again  and  again,  working  hard,  and 
each  time  they  tore  it  down  so  that,  finally,  I  had 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  43 

to  give  it  up  and  go  across  the  street  where  nicer 
people  lived." 

"I  suppose  the  people  who  tore  down  your  nest 
did  not  know  how  much  good  you  do  by  eating  flies, 
mosquitoes,  moths,  etc.?"  said  Mrs.  Bushtit. 

"Oh,  I  presume  not,"  replied  Mrs.  Phoebe,  resign- 
edly. "Some  people  are  so  ignorant  in  regard  to  the 
value  of  our  work  and  too  selfish  to  care  what  be- 
comes of  us." 

"We  have  such  a  nice  nesting  place,"  spoke  up 
another  Mrs.  Phoebe.  "We  have  used  the  same 
props  under  the  eaves  for  several  years  and  no  one 
molests  us.  We  raised  three  broods  of  beautiful 
children  this  year,"  and  Mrs.  Phoebe  flirted  her  tail 
in  satisfaction. 

"Well,  I  had  a  very  dreadful  time,"  spoke  up  tiny 
Mrs.  Costa  Hummingbird.  "You  know  I  do  all  the 
nest-building  in  our  family,  and  it  is  no  small  matter 
to  gather  down  and  spiders'  webs  enough  for  a  nice 
nest." 

"I  should  say  not,"  interrupted  Mrs.  Jay.  "How 
you  ever  build  such  a  dear  little  nest  is  more  than  I 
can  see." 

"Of  course  I  could  never  construct  a  big  one  like 
yours,  Mrs.  Jay.  It  would  break  my  back  to  carry 
some  of  the  big  sticks  you  use.  Well,  I  got  my  nest 
all  built  and  fastened  to  a  mulberry  leaf  in  such  a 
nice  shady  yard.  I  even  had  my  two  eggs  laid,  and 
they  were  just  about  to  hatch,  when  a  great  big  boy, 
who  was  picking  the  ripe  mulberries,  spied  me.  I 
fairly  held  my  breath  when  he  found  me  and,  as  it 
proved,  I  had  good  reason  to  be  scared,  for  he  took 


44 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


out  his  knife  and  cut  off  the  little  twig  that  held  my 
nest." 

"Oh,  you  poor  dear!"  exclaimed  sympathetic 
Mrs.  Phoebe. 

"We  had  a  similar  experience,"  said  Mr.  Bush- 
tit. 


Mrs.  Bushtit's  Nest 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  45 

"Do  tell  us  about  it,"  came  from  several. 

"We  used  the  same  nest  that  we  had  last  year," 
began  Mr.  Bushtit.  "It  was  hung  in  a  live-oak 
tree  that  grew  in  a  city  lot,  which  was  vacant,  and 
had  proved  such  a  good  place  the  year  before  that 
we  felt  we  were  safe.  We  worked  about  a  month, 
re-lining  the  old  nest  and  getting  it  ready,  and  then 
Mrs.  Bushtit  began  brooding.  After  two  weeks  of 
tiresome  sitting,  we  found  that  the  eggs  were  not 
good,  and  so  it  was  necessary  to  cover  them  up  with 
more  building  material,  and  make  the  nest  fit  for 
another  set.  Well,  we  had  just  finished  it  and  I  had 
laid  two  beautiful,  creamy  eggs,  when  one  day  we 
came  to  the  tree  to  find  our  home  entirely  gone.  Even 
the  branch  from  which  it  swung  was  missing.  A 

man  was  trimming  up  the  tree  and  had  taken  our 

.  »» 
nest. 

"What  a  shame,  after  all  that  work!"  came  from 
the  sympathetic  audience. 

"Yes,  I  admit  that  it  was  rather  discouraging.  I 
heard  a  lady  who  had  been  most  friendly  to  us  tell- 
ing a  friend  how  she  had  tried  to  get  the  tree  trimmers 
to  leave  our  nest,  but  it  did  not  suit  their  plans  to  do 
it.  Of  course  we  had  to  go  to  another  tree  and  start 
all  over  again.  That  third  time,  however,  we  had 
no  mishap  and  raised  a  family  of  eight,  many  of 
whom  are  with  us  today."  Papa  Bushtit  at  the 
mention  of  this  fine  family  proudly  puffed  up  his  lit- 
tle round  body,  until  he  looked  more  like  a  ball  than 
a  bird. 

"A  bad  boy  took  my  nest,  also,"  said  Mrs.  Wood 
Pewee.  "I  built  in  a  secluded  place  far  away  from 


46  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

homes,  for  I  am  just  a  little  suspicious  of  mortals  and 
prefer  the  quietude  of  the  forest.  But  it  did  not  save 
me,  for  after  many  trips  of  nest-building  in  which  I 
had  taken  pains  to  build  a  fine  cup-shaped  nest,  dec- 
orated with  lichens,  and  had  laid  my  eggs,  a  boy 
came  along  and  spied  me.  Although  my  nest  was 
on  a  slender  limb,  he  managed  to  'collect'  it,  and  car- 
ried it  away,  despite  my  distress." 

Mr.  Mocker  had  listened  patiently  to  all  these  re- 
citals, but  at  the  close  of  Mrs.  Pewee's  tale,  he 
arose,  and,  after  looking  at  the  sun,  said  he  believed 
they  had  given  as  much  time  as  possible  to  the  trials 
of  nest  building,  and  that  after  a  few  minutes  recess, 
they  would  discuss  another  important  matter. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TRIALS  OF  YOUNG  MOTHERS. 

"Now,"  began  Mr.  Mocker,  after  he  had  called 
the  Convention  to  order,  "we  are  going  to  take  up  a 
subject  in  which  you  should  all  feel  interested.  If, 
however,  any  of  you  do  not  care  to  listen  to  this  dis- 
cussion, please  go  quietly  away  so  as  not  to  disturb 
others.  Mr.  Jim  Crow,  will  you  please  act  as  mar- 
shal and  see  that  order  prevails?" 

"With  pleasure,  Mr.  President,"  replied  Mr.  Jim 
Crow. 

"For  a  short  time  we  will  consider  the  trials  of 
young  mothers,"  said  the  President.  "I  noticed  that 
Mrs.  Brown  Towhee  had  something  to  tell  us  when 


Mr.  C.  Towhee 


48  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

we  adjourned,  and  I  am  going  to  ask  her  to  open  the 
discussion  with  her  recent  experiences.'* 

Mrs.  Towhee  hopped  forward  and  stood  on  a 
stone  before  the  assembly. 

"I  have  had  my  trials,  indeed,  in  raising  a  fam- 
ily," began  Mrs.  Towhee.  "We  prefer  nesting  in 
a  garden  or  in  the  vines  about  the  house  and  as 
the  people  where  we  live  like  birds,  we  are  never 
molested.  In  fact,  they  are  so  anxious  to  have  us 
about,  that  they  keep  food  out  for  us  and  even 
put  out  rags  for  us  to  use  in  our  nest  building.  But 
after  our  babies  are  hatched,  we  have  the  most 
dreadful  time  to  raise  them  because  of  cats."  A 
wave  of  tumult  arose  from  all  sides,  for  many  of 
those  present  had  suffered  in  the  same  way. 

"Silence !"  commanded  the  Chairman.  "Let  Mrs. 
Towhee  finish." 

"There  is  not  much  more  to  tell,"  said  Mrs.  Tow- 
hee. "Stray,  prowling  cats  take  most  of  our  little 
ones  in  spite  of  all  the  pains  we  and  our  human 

friends  take  to  protect  them.     It  is  most  dishearten- 

»» 
ing. 

"I,  too,  had  my  little  dears  taken  by  cats  only  a 
short  time  ago,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Linnet.  "I  had 
never  had  so  large  a  family  before.  There  were 
six  of  them,  and  I  was  looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  I  could  show  them  to  all  my  friends,  but  it  was 
not  to  be." 

"Why,  they  even  got  my  darlings  when  I  placed 
the  nest  in  a  cactus  plant,"  said  another  Linnet. 

"I  just  had  four  darlings  taken,"  spoke  up  an- 
other Mrs.  Towhee.  "They  were  in  a  vine  that 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


49 


Mrs.  Linnet's  Nest  in  the  Cactus  Plant 

grew  on  the  back  porch  and  were  getting  so  strong 
and  handsome,  when,  one  night,  I  was  awakened  by 
a  fiery-eyed  monster  who  almost  caught  me  and 
who  began  eating  my  babies.  Their  cries  brought 
my. mistress  to  the  porch  and  she  scared  the  cat  away, 
but  she  was  too  late.  I  heard  her  lamenting  the  next 
day  because  the  nest  was  empty." 

"And  they  climbed  into  the  pampas-grass,  where 
we  had  our  nest,  and  took  our  young  also,"  said 
Mrs.  Song-Sparrow.  "We  are  very  fond  of  the 
pampas-grass  for  a  nesting-site  and  thought  the 
rough  blades  would  keep  away  undesirable  prowl- 
ers, but  we  had  to  give  up  using  that  clump  and 
have  had  better  luck  since." 

"A  cat  also  took  my  family  as  soon  as  they  were 
hatched,'*  said  Mr.  Phainopepla. 

"And  mine,  too,"  came  from  Mrs.  Rufous- 
Crowned  Sparrow. 


50  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

"Well,"  said  the  Chairman,  "I  guess  that  most 
of  us  know  what  it  means  to  have  our  families  broken 
up  by  those  animals  they  call  cats.  They  are,  un- 
doubtedly, our  worst  enemies.  I  understand  that 
it  is  the  desire  of  many  that  they  be  licensed  the  same 
as  dogs.  That  would  keep  in  check  the  strays." 

"I  do  hope  so!"  "That  would  be  fine!"  came 
from  so  many  sources  regardless  of  even  bird-gram- 
mar, that^the  Chairman's  voice  was  drowned. 

"We  are  not  bothered  by  cats,"  spoke  up  Mrs. 
Bushtit,  "because  they  cannot  get  at  our  long  hang- 
ing nest  and  our  babies  stay  inside  until  they  are  able 
to  care  for  themselves." 

"You  are  most  fortunate  in  having  so  obedient 
and  obliging  a  family,"  said  Mrs.  Mocker.  "My 
children  are  always  so  ambitious  that  it  is  hard  to 
restrain  them.  They  jump  from  the  nest  before  they 
can  fly  and  it  seems  as  if  there  was  a  cat  lurking 
under  every  bush.  Then,  so  many  people,  seeing 
the  babies  on  the  ground,  pick  them  up  and  take 
them  home,  and  as  most  human  beings  do  not  know 
how  to  feed  them,  most  of  them  die.  If  they 
would  only  pick  them  up  and  place  them  in  a  bush, 
or  some  safe  place,  where  we  could  feed  them,  it 
would  be  so  much  better." 

"Indeed  it  would,"  agreed  several  listeners.  "I 
should  think  they  might  know  that  the  parent  birds 
were  somewhere  about  when  they  see  young  birds." 

"We  had  a  most  tragic  time  with  snakes,"  spoke 
up  Mrs.  Pacific-Yellowthroat.  At  the  urgent  re- 
quest of  those  present  she  told  her  story.  "We  built 
our  nest  in  a  clump  of  coarse  grasses  that  grew 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


51 


in  a  canyon  away  from  human  habitation  and  we 
felt  quite  safe  from  boys  and  cats.  Of  course  we 
knew  about  snakes  but  we  had  never  seen  any  about 


Mrs.  Towhee's  Nest 

and  felt  that  this  protected  spot  would  be  compara- 
tively safe.  Well,  I  laid  four  eggs  and,  after  two 
weeks  of  patient  brooding,  they  hatched.  Mr.  Yel- 
lowthroat  and  I  were  so  proud  of  them  and  worked 
so  hard  to  feed  them.  They  were  such  cunning  lit- 
tle dears,  if  I  do  say  it  as  shouldn't.  One  -day  when 
they  were  nearly  a  week  old,  we  came  home  only  to 
find  the  nest  empty,"  and  Mrs.  Yellowthroat  wiped 
her  eyes  with  her  wing. 

"Oh-oo!"  came  from  tiny  Mrs.  Wren.     "How 
did  you  know  what  happened  to  them?" 


52  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

"It  was  easy  enough  to  tell,  for,  lying  across  the 
nest  just  as  if  he  owned  it,  was  the  horrid  speckled 
monster,  sleeping  after  his  meal." 

"The  audacity!"  came  from  perky  Mrs.  Song- 
Sparrow. 

"Was  it  not  sad?"  said  Mrs.  Flicker  to  her  neigh- 
bor, Mrs.  Chat. 

"Indeed,  yes,"  said  that  handsome  lady.  "I  am 
always  afraid  of  snakes  as  I  build  low  and  in  a  wild 
tangle.  However,  I  have  not  as  yet  met  with  any 
misfortune  from  that  source.  But  listen.  Mrs. 
Spurred  Towhee  is  speaking." 

"I,  also,  had  my  babies  taken  by  those  crawling 
monsters.  My  nest  was  placed  right  on  the  ground 
under  a  clump  of  coarse  grass.  I  laid  three  light 
blue  eggs,  which  were  speckled  with  brown,  and 
brooded  them  two  weeks,  leaving  only  when  I 
wanted  food.  Mr.  Towhee  was  always  near-by 
and  often  called  to  let  me  know  where  he  was,  but 
he  did  none  of  the  brooding.  Well,  the  babies  were 
only  a  day  old  when  this  reptile  came  along  and  ate 
them.  He  curled  up  in  my  nest  after  his  villain- 
ous act,  too.  A  lady  and  girl  came  to  see  my  little 
ones  and  they  heard  my  cry  of  distress  and  scared 
the  snake  away  with  their  umbrella,  but  they  were 
too  late  to  save  the  darlings.  They  felt  dreadfully 
about  it,  and  were  sorry  they  had  not  come  sooner 
and  by  their  presence  kept  the  snake  away." 

"You  can  imagine  my  sorrow  when  I  returned 
with  a  juicy  miller  for  the  babies,  to  find  Mrs.  Tow- 
hee in  such  distress  and  the  little  ones  nowhere  about. 
We  looked  everywhere  and  called  for  them  in  hopes 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


53 


the  snake  had  not  really  gotten  them,  but  of  course 
we  knew  he  had  and  so,  finally,  I  gave  up  looking 
and  ate  the  miller  myself,"  said  Mr.  Spurred  Tow- 
hee. 


Mrs.  Song  Sparrow 

"Why  didn't  you  give  it  to  Mrs.  Towhee?"  asked 
Miss  Cedar  Waxwing  coquettishly. 

"Well,  I  might  have  done  so,  but  I  never  thought 
of  it,  my  dear,"  answered  Mr.  Towhee,  his  red  eyes 
twinkling  at  the  idea. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  no  one  ever  had  more  trouble 
than  I,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Dove  in  a  mournful  tone. 
"Although  we  are  given  protection  in  23  States  in 
the  Union  at  all  times  of  year,  there  are  other  States 
where  we  are  considered  game  birds  and  are  hunted, 
and  that  when  our  young  are  still  in  the  nest." 


54  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

"I  call  that  a  perfect  shame!"  exclaimed  several  in 
the  audience. 

"I  guess  you  would  have  thought  it  a  shame  if 
you  had  had  your  kind  husband  shot  down  before 
your  very  eyes  and  you  had  barely  escaped  with 
your  life.  We  were  carrying  food  for  the  little  ones 
when  the  fatal  shot  rang  out  which  killed  Mr.  Dove. 
I  have  always  felt  very  thankful  that  I  escaped  to 
raise  my  children.  Some  of  my  neighbors  were  not 
so  fortunate  and  many  of  their  young  were  left 
to  starve  in  the  nests.  One  family  of  nestlings  was 
taken  charge  of  by  a  kind  lady  who  said  she  would 
raise  them,  but  others  there  were  who  cried  pitifully 
for  days  and  finally  died  of  starvation." 

"Is  it  not  terrible  that  our  human  brothers  will  do 
such  things?"  said  little  Mrs.  Kinglet. 

"I  know,  Mrs.  Mourning  Dove,"  said  Mr. 
Mocker,  "that  you  are  much  persecuted,  but  a  sen- 
timent in  your  favor  is  growing  and  I  hope  that  at 
our  next  Convention  you  can  give  a  happier  story." 

"Our  family  has  gone  through  a  most  nerve-rack- 
ing experience  this  last  year,"  said  Mr.  Meadowlark. 
"One  of  the  men  who  make  the  laws,  being  ignorant 
of  the  good  we  do,  tried  to  take  us  from  the  protected 
list,  and  it  required  a  hard  fight  to  save  us." 

"Well,  I  declare,"  said  old  Mrs.  Robin.  "I 
thought  every  one  liked  the  Meadowlarks." 

"Well,  I  believe  that  most  people  do  like  us,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Lark.  "The  Government,  you  know,  con- 
siders us  one  of  the  farmers'  best  friends  and  urges 
everyone  to  protect  us  because  we  eat  so  many  bugs, 
worms,  weevils,  etc.,  that  destroy  the  grain,  but  some 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


55 


ignorant  people,  seeing  us  in  the  fields,  think  we  are 
eating  the  grain  when  it  is  not  half  as  good  as  the 
juicy  bugs  we  find  in  it." 

"It  was  a  boy  who  did  so  much  to  help  save  us," 
said  Mrs.  Meadowlark.  "He  had  watched  us  and 
knew  how  much  good  we  did  and  he  wrote  his 
father,  who  was  a  Senator,  all  about  us  and  begged 
him  to  save  us.  His  father  read  the  letter  before  the 
other  Senators  and  they  voted  down  the  bill  that 
aimed  to  take  protection  from  us." 


Mrs.  Song-Sparrow's  Nest 


56  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

"Was  not  that  splendid  of  him,"  said  Mr.  Jay. 
"I  wish  somebody  would  work  that  way  to  save  me." 

"And  me,  too,"  chimed  in  Mr.  Linnet. 

"So  far  we  have  had  so  many  stories  of  disasters," 
said  the  Chairman,  "that  it  would  be  quite  a  relief  to 
hear  from  some  of  you  who  successfully  raised  your 
families." 

"I  had  an  unusual  experience,"  said  Mr.  Gairdner 
Woodpecker.  "We  succeeded  in  raising  our  family 
all  right." 

"Do  let  us  hear  about  it,"  said  Mr.  Mocker. 

"Mrs.  Woodpecker  and  I  selected  an  old  syca- 
more tree  in  a  city  park  that  joins  an  arroyo.  I  sup- 
pose that  we  were  unwise  in  our  selection  of  a  tree 
as  we  placed  our  nest  only  about  six  feet  from  the 
ground  and  on  a  limb  from  which  a  swing  hung." 

"But  you  know,  my  dear,"  interrupted  Mrs. 
Woodpecker,  "that  when  we  dug  our  hole  for  the 
nest  the  swing  was  seldom  used.  We  surely  never 
dreamed  that  it  was  such  a  popular  park  for  picnics 
or  we  would  have  selected  another  site." 

"Yes,  indeed,"  agreed  her  mate.  "Well,  we 
got  our  nest  made  down  in  this  old  stump  of  a  limb 
and  Mrs.  Woodpecker  laid  the  eggs  and  began 
brooding.  Everything  went  nicely  until  the  babies 
were  hatched  and  then  there  were  so  many  people  in 
the  park  that  the  swing  was  occupied  most  of  the 
time.  Neither  Mrs.  Woodpecker  nor  I  dared  to  go 
and  feed  while  the  swing  was  occupied,  so  that  the 
nestlings  often  got  very  hungry.  Then,  too,  some 
one  in  the  crowd  always  saw  our  hole  and  immedi- 
ately all  the  children  wanted  to  look  in  and  stick  their 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  57 

fingers  down.  Of  course  they  could  not  see  to  the 
bottom  of  the  nest,  nor  feel  the  babies  until  they  got 
quite  large  and  then  the  little  dears  would  take  hold 
of  their  fingers,  thinking  it  was  food,  and  how  those 
youngsters  would  squeal.  They  all  thought  we  were 
so  cunning  and  they  said  it  was  such  fun  to  watch 
as  we  bobbed  in  and  out  of  the  hole.  That  seemed 
so  queer  to  us.  There  was  one  lady  who  came  to 
watch  us  every  day  and  photograph  us,  whatever 
that  is.  She  put  up  a  box-like  thing  on  legs  and 
pointed  it  at  our  hole.  Mrs.  Woodpecker  was  very 
much  frightened,  and  for  a  long  time  refused  to  go 
to  the  nest,  but  finally,  seeing  that  no  harm  came  to 
me,  she  took  courage  and  went,  also." 

"Well,  how  was  I  to  know  that  it  was  not  a  gun?" 
asked  Mrs.  Woodpecker.  "I  thought  perhaps  it 
was  put  there  on  purpose  to  shoot  me." 

"So  it  was,"  laughed  Mr.  Chat,  "but  not  to  kill 

it 
you. 

"The  lady  was  very  nice,"  continued  Mr.  Wood- 
pecker, "and  got  the  Superintendent  to  take  the 
swing  down  because  she  saw  that  we  could  not  half 
feed  our  children." 

"Wasn't  she  good!"  came  from  several. 

"I  heard  her  tell  the  park  men  that  it  had  been 
estimated  that  one  of  our  cousins  in  the  East,  the 
Downy  Woodpecker,  was  worth  over  $500  to  the 
orchardist,  because  of  the  good  he  does  in  taking  the 
pupae  of  the  codling  moth,  a  most  injurious  insect. 
She  told  them  that  she  was  sure  that  we  were  most 
useful  because  we  came  so  often  to  the  nest  with  our 
mouths  filled  to  over-flowing  with  worms  and  other 


58 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


Mr.   Woodpecker  Taking  Food  to  His  Babies 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  59 

injurious  insects.  She  felt  that  we  were  doing  so 
much  to  help  keep  the  park  trees  alive  that  the  men 
should  help  us  to  raise  our  family." 

"She  seemed  to  know  a  lot  about  you,"  said  Mrs. 
Robin. 

"Well,  she  ought  to.    She  visited  us  enough." 

"That  was  just  like  a  lady  who  watched  our  nest 
last  year,"  said  Mrs.  Phainopepla.  "She  came  every 
day  and  stayed  and  pried  into  our  affairs.  At  first 
I  was  very  alarmed,  but  when  I  found  she  meant 
well,  I  went  about  my  affairs  unmindful  of  her." 

"I  really  think  that  she  felt  quite  kindly  to  us," 
said  Mr.  Phainopepla. 

"Did  you  finally  get  your  children  out  of  the  hole 
safely?"  asked  Mrs.  Western  Bluebird. 

"Yes,  indeed,  they  came  out  when  no  picnic  party 
was  about,"  said  Mrs.  Woodpecker.  "We  never 
would  have  dared  to  have  them  do  otherwise,  for 
some  of  the  boys  would  have  tried  to  catch  them. 
As  it  was  we  hastened  them  up  high  out  of  harm's 

M 

way. 

"You  surely  had  a  novel  experience,"  said  Mr. 
California  Woodpecker.  "We  never  take  such 
chances  with  our  family,  but  build  high  and  away 
from  picnic  parties,  if  possible." 

"One  interesting  experience  Mr.  Woodpecker  has 
forgotten  to  tell  you,"  said  Mrs.  Woodpecker.  "One 
day  when  a  picnic  party  was  there  and  we  were  both 
away  getting  worms,  one  of  the  girls  thought  that 
they  would  help  us  and  so  dropped  a  crumb  of  bread 
in  the  hole.  When  Mr.  Woodpecker  came  he  found 
it  there.  Of  course,  the  babies  were  too  young  to 


60 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


feed  themselves,  and  anyway,  they  would  not  eat 
bread.  We  realized  the  good  intentions,  but  could 
not  leave  the  bread  to  clutter  up  the  nest  and  so  Mr. 
Woodpecker  took  it  out  with  him  as  soon  as  he  found 
it.  No  doubt  some  other  bird  found  it  and  enjoyed 
it." 


Baby  Goldfinch 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EXPERIENCES. 

"Now,"  said  the  President,  "we  want  to  hear 
from  other  members  of  the  assembly.  Tell  us  what 
you  did  last  year;  what  experiences  you  had,  and 
anything  helpful  or  interesting.  Undoubtedly  there 
will  be  something  by  which  we  may  profit  this  coming 
season. 

"We  raised  our  family  safely  last  year/*  spoke  up 
Mrs.  Arkansas  Kingbird. 

"We  had  five  beautiful  babies,"  said  Mr.  King- 
bird, proudly. 

"And  they  raised  them  in  such  a  queer  place," 
interposed  Mr.  Mocker.  "Do  tell  the  Convention 
about  it,  Mr.  Kingbird." 

"Did  you  think  it  a  queer  place,  Mr.  Mocker?" 
asked  Mrs.  Kingbird.  "We  thought  it  so  ideal  that 
we  used  it  several  seasons." 

"It  was  on  the  top  of  a  square  electric  light  pole, 
between  two  uprights  that  support  the  crossbars  which 
hold  the  wires,"  explained  Mr.  Kingbird.  "We  lined 
it  with  sticks,  strings,  and  feathers  and  it  made  a  very 
cosy  nest.  No  cat  or  boy  could  very  easily  climb 
the  pole  and  from  this  lofty  outlook  Mrs.  Kingbird 
could  see  any  possible  danger." 

"I  should  have  thought  that  you  would  have 
feared  that  the  babies  would  fall  out  and  break  their 
necks,"  said  Mrs.  B.  Towhee,  who  knew  from 
experience  what  a  task  it  was  to  keep  ambitious 
youngsters  in  the  nest  until  they  were  able  to  keep 
away  from  cats. 


62 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


Miss  Towhee 

"Well,  Mrs.  Towhee,"  said  Mrs.  Kingbird,  "our 
children  are  not  so  forward  as  yours.  They  stay  in 
the  nest  until  they  are  fully  feathered  and  can  fly 
from  it.  The  dears  are  nearly  three  weeks  old  be- 
fore they  try  their  wings." 

"How  lovely,"  said  Mrs.  Towhee.  "Mine  are 
only  about  nine  days  old  when  they  get  restless  and 
determine  to  leave  the  nest.  They  have  scarcely 
any  tails  and  cannot  fly  at  all." 

"But  they  are  lively  hoppers,  I've  noticed,"  said 
Mr.  Blackbird.  "They  run  like — like  gophers." 

A  shout  went  up  among  the  birds.  "You  mean 
squirrels,  don't  you?"  asked  one. 

"Well,  perhaps  I  do,"  replied  Mr.  Blackbird. 
"Gophers  are  those  things  that  burrow  in  the  ground. 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  63 

I  guess  I  meant  squirrels/'  and  he  joined  goodnatur- 
edly  in  the  fun  with  his  companions. 

"I  had  a  queer  experience  last  year/'  spoke  up 
a  member  of  the  Oriole  family.  "It  was  when  I  was 
only  a  youngster.  I  got  too  ambitious  and  tried  to 
leave  the  nest.  A  small  boy,  finding  me  on  the 


Mrs.  Hummer's  Nest  in  Eucalyptus  Tree 


64  THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION 

ground,  took  me  across  the  street  to  a  lady  who  was 
friendly  to  birds.  She  told  the  boy  that  he  should 
have  left  me  on  a  bush  near  where  he  found  me  and 
then  my  parents  would  have  fed  me.  She  started 
to  take  me  back,  but  there  was  an  Oriole  about  who 
seemed  interested  in  me,  and  so  she  left  me  in  a  safe 
place  for  him  to  feed.  He  coaxed  me  until  I  managed 
to  get  up  into  a  pepper-tree  and  he  came  and  fed 
me  a  few  times  and  then,  for  some  unknown  reason, 
he  stopped  and  no  Oriole  would  feed  me,  although  I 
cried  lustily  for  food.  The  lady  heard  me  and  came 
out  and  tried  to  catch  me  so  that  she  could  give 
me  food,  but  I  would  not  let  her.  I  got  so  hungry 
that  finally  I  tried  to  eat  the  leaves  and  things  about 
me.  One  tree  that  I  got  into  had  fruit  on  it,  mul- 
berry they  call  it,  and  I  picked  at  the  berries  in  my 
despair.  A  mean  old  Mocking  bird  came  and  picked 
me  several  times  and  drove  me  about,  and  the  kind 
lady  tried  to  help  me,  but  finally  I  was  a  full  grown 
bird  and  had  taught  myself  to  eat.  I  can  tell  you  I 
was  glad  when  I  was  fully  able  to  care  for  myself 
as  other  birds  do." 

"What  a  time  you  had,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Ori- 
ole. "You  have  taught  me  a  lesson,  which  is  that  we 
should  not  only  feed  our  own  nestlings  but  any  other 
that  begs  for  food.  I  suppose  the  birds  that  saw  you, 
thought  some  one  else  was  feeding  you." 

"I  suppose  so,"  answered  the  first  speaker,  "but  it 
was  hard  on  me." 

"Does  not  Mrs.  Oriole  make  a  beautiful  nest?" 
asked  Mrs.  Phoebe  of  Mrs.  Kinglet,  who  sat  near 
her. 


THE    BIRDS'     CONVENTION  65 

"I  have  heard  so,"  replied  Mrs.  Kinglet,  "but  as  I 
do  not  stay  in  this  neighborhood  during  the  nesting 
season,  I  have  never  seen  her  nest.  Do  tell  me  about 
it." 

"Mrs.  Hooded-Oriole  usually  hangs  her  nest  un- 
der a  palm  leaf,  though  sometimes  she  selects  a  tall 
eucalyptus  tree  for  her  home,"  said  Mrs.  Phoebe. 
"She  usually  uses  the  fibers  of  the  palm  leaves  for  her 
material  so  that  it  quite  blends  with  the  leaf.  But 
the  wonderful  thing  is  the  way  she  pushes  this  fiber 
through  the  leaf  from  the  under  side,  then  pulls  it 
back,  until  she  has  fastened  the  nest  in  two  or  three 
places  on  to  the  leaf,  for  all  the  world  as  if  she  had 
a  needle  and  thread." 

"My  mistress  who  does  fine  embroidery  says  she 
could  not  beat  it,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Jenny  Wren,  who 
was  listening  to  the  conversation. 

"Mrs.  Oriole  does  most  of  the  building,"  contin- 
ued Mrs.  Phoebe. 

"She  makes  the  whole  nest  of  this  fiber,  weaving 
it  into  a  deep  cup  which  hangs  in  under  the  leaf  out 
of  harm  from  sun,  or  rain,  or  wind." 

"It  must,  indeed,  be  beautiful,"  said  Mrs.  Kinglet. 

"I  call  it  most  wonderful,"  spoke  up  Mrs.  Robin. 
"You  know  my  nest  is  made  of  twigs  and  fibers 
stuck  together  with  much  mud.  It  is  not  stuck  on  to 
some  projection,  or  with  only  a  slight  support  like 
yours,  Mrs.  Phoebe,  nor  yet  under  the  eaves  or 
against  a  bank  like  the  Swallows,  but  it  is  in  some 
tree-crotch,  or  where  there  is  a  substantial  support. 
This  hanging  a  nest  beneath  a  leaf  is,  indeed,  a  mys- 
tery to  me." 


66 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


"What  I  could  never  understand,"  said  Mrs. 
Vireo,  "is  why  Mrs.  Oriole  so  often  leaves  so  many 
long  light  fibers  hanging  from  her  nest.  Oftentimes 
they  are  two  feet  long,  and,  blowing  about  with  the 
breeze,  are  sure  to  attract  attention.  She  would  be 
wiser,  in  my  judgment,  to  weave  the  loose  ends  in." 


Mrs.  Vireo's  Home 

"Mrs.  Vireo  is  a  most  beautiful  nest-builder," 
whispered  Mrs.  Warbler  to  her  neighbor."  Her 
nest  is  a  sort  of  cup,  also,  and  often  hangs,  but  there 
are  no  stray  ends,  you  may  be  sure." 

"Speaking  of  queer  nests,"  spoke  up  Mr. 
Thrasher,  "Did  any  of  you  ever  see  Mrs.  Cactus- 
Wren's  nest?" 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  67 

"I  never  did,"  said  Mrs.  Vireo,  "though  I  have 
heard  about  it." 

"As  their  name  implies,  the  whole  family  builds 
in  the  cactus,"  said  Mrs.  Thrasher.  "The  nests  are 
large,  bulky  pouches,  longer  than  broad,  and  are 
placed  in  a  cactus  crotch  so  that  they  lie  nearly  on 
one  side.  There  is  a  hole  in  the  smaller  end  where 
the  birds  go  in  and  out.  The  nests  are  lined  with 
feathers  and  are  very  warm,  cosy  affairs." 

"I  should  think  Mrs.  Wren  would  have  to  be 
very  careful  not  to  get  stuck  on  the  cactus  thorns," 
said  Mrs.  Towhee.  "I  believe  my  choice  of  the 
ground  suits  me  best  after  all." 

"Mr.  Cactus- Wren  is  a  cousin  of  yours,  is  he  not, 
Mr.  Thrasher?"  asked  one  of  the  group. 

"Yes,  all  the  Wrens  are  my  cousins.  Even  little 
Jennie  here.  You  will  notice  that  in  shape,  curved 
bill  and  carriage,  there  is  a  strong  family  re- 
semblance. Our  voices,  also,  proclaim  us  relatives." 

"I  had  a  hard  time  last  year,"  said  Mrs.  Robin- 
red-breast.  "I  made  the  mistake  of  going  into  a 
cherry  country.  The  cherries  are  delicious  eating, 
and,  of  course,  when  we  nest  where  they  are,  we  eat 
some  of  them.  Some  people  resent  it,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  we  eat  so  many  insects,  thus  doing 
more  good  than  harm.  One  girl  in  our  neighbor- 
hood sat  in  the  window  with  a  loaded  gun  and  shot 
all  the  robins  she  could  see." 

"How  unladylike!"  said  one  of  the  listeners. 

"My  husband  was  killed  by  her,"  continued  Mrs. 
Robin,  "and  I  had  a  hard  time  supplying  the  children 
alone.  You  know  they  eat  from  50  to  75  cut- worms 


68  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

a  day  while  they  are  growing.  Indeed  I  had  one 
child  that  ate  1 65  cut-worms  in  one  day,  which  was 
one  and  five-sixths  times  its  own  weight." 

"Goodness,  what  an  eater!"  exclaimed  one  of  the 
birds. 

"I  am  not  going  to  that  locality  next  year,"  said 
Mrs.  Robin,  "it  is  not  safe." 

"We  have  a  splendid  place,"  said  another  Mrs. 
Robin.  "You  had  better  come  with  us.  My  people 
have  quantities  of  cherries  and  they  let  us  have  all  we 
want.  They  love  birds  and  will  not  allow  one  killed. 
Why,  the  Quail  families  gather  about  their  doors  by 
hundreds.  They  are  as  tame  as  chickens." 

"I  was  sure  we  might  be  of  help  to  each  other," 
said  the  Chairman,  "I  should  think  you  might  profit 
by  this  suggestion,  Mrs.  Robin." 

"Indeed  I  shall.  I  will  go  when  you  do,  if  I 
may,  so  as  to  be  sure  and  find  the  place,"  she  said  to 
her  more  fortunate  neighbor. 

"I  shall  be  glad  of  your  company,"  replied  Mrs. 
Robin. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  AUDUBON   SOCIETY. 

"It  seems  proper  that  we  should  devote  a  part  of 
this,  our  first  Convention,  to  the  Society  that  has 
labored  so  untiringly  for  us  amoung  our  human 
brothers  and  sisters,"  said  Mr.  Mockingbird.  **I 
presume  that  you  all  know  that  the  name  of  this 
Society  is  'The  Audubon  Society,'  and  that  its  mem- 
bers work  for  the  preservation  of  the  beneficial  birds, 
their  nests  and  eggs.  Through  their  efforts  laws  have 
been  made  all  over  the  country  giving  us  better  pro- 
tection and  forbidding  people  to  kill  us  or  keep  us 
in  cages.  Some  thirty-seven  States  in  the  Union  now 
have  these  Societies.  The  children,  also,  are  banded 
together  and  it  is  most  interesting  and  gratifying  to  us 
that  there  are  so  many  boys  who  do  not  try  to  kill  us. 
These  children  are  taught  about  our  food  habits  and 
know  that  without  us  the  vegetation  of  the  earth 
would  be  destroyed  by  insects  and  that  human  beings 
could  not  live. 

"I  am  sure  you  all  feel  as  I  do  about  these  bird 
lovers,  but  I  should  like  an  expression  from  you." 

Instantly  such  a  hubbub  arose  that  the  President 
had  to  call  the  assembly  to  order  and  beg  the  mem- 
bers not  all  to  speak  at  once.  Mr.  Barn  Owl  seemed 
much  excited,  and  when  the  President  had  succeeded 
in  gaining  order,  he  asked  Mr.  Owl  what  he  had  to 
say  about  the  Audubon  Society. 

"Mr.  Chairman  and  Friends" :  began  solemn  Mr. 
Owl,  "I  have  nothing  but  the  greatest  praise  for  this 
estimable  Society.  I  know  what  it  means  to  be  given 


70 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


Mr.   White-crowned  Sparrow 

protection.  Had  it  not  been  for  human  friends,  I 
should  not  have  raised  my  family  as  I  did  the  past 
year.  We  have  a  hole  in  an  old  sycamore  tree  not 
far  from  here  which  we  have  used  for  a  nest  for  many 
years.  The  boys  have  always  bothered  us  more  or 
less,  but  a  kind  lady  who  lives  near  by  has  made 
them  leave  us  alone,  and  this  year  she  again  came 
to  our  rescue.  Two  boys  thought  they  would  like 
one  of  my  babies  for  a  pet,  and  so  they  climbed  up 
the  tree,  and  tied  a  string  around  my  baby's  leg  and 
fastened  the  other  end  to  a  branch,  and  then  they 
climbed  down  and  left  my  darling  tied  to  the  tree. 
For  some  reason  they  did  not  come  back  to  get  him, 
and,  I  suppose,  would  have  left  him  to  die  in  the  tree 
had  not  the  kind  lady  made  them  climb  up  and  cut 
him  loose." 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  71 

"What  a  shame  that  they  treated  you  so,"  came 
from  a  sympathetic  neighbor. 

"I  am  sure,"  said  the  Chairman,  "as  soon  as  the 
people  realize  how  much  good  Mr.  Barn  Owl  and 
his  family  do  by  catching  gophers,  mice,  squirrels, 
etc.,  they  will  give  them  better  protection  and  not 
allow  their  boys  to  .molest  them.  I  understand  that 
they  are  considered  most  helpful  to  the  farmers." 

"Yes,  this  bird  society  has  issued  a  Bulletin  tell- 
ing how  much  good  the  Owl  family  does ;  and  there 
is  a  splendid  likeness  of  Mr.  Owl  on  the  front  page," 
said  one  of  the  birds. 

When  Mr.  Owl  had  ceased  his  story,  a  tiny  Hum- 
ming-bird made  such  a  buzzing  above  the  audience 
that  all  heads  were  turned  in  her  direction  and  eagerly 
they  listened  for  what  she  had  to  say. 

"Do  you  know,"  she  began  in  a  high-pitched 
voice,  "that  they  have  a  Junior  Society  in  our  school 
and — "  but  she  was  checked  in  her  story  by  ex- 
clamations of,  "Your  school?"  "The  idea!" 
"Where  is  it?"  etc.,  and  she  explained  by  saying 
that  she  called  it  her  school  because  she  had  her  nest 
in  the  yard  close  by. 

"In  the  school-yard,  among  all  the  children?" 
queried  Mrs.  Crow.  "What  a  queer  place." 

"Yes,  indeed,  that  was  what  I  wanted  to  tell  you 
about,"  said  Mrs.  Hummer. 

"I  built  my  nest  on  a  pepper-branch  only  six 
feet  from  the  ground  and  between  the  two  play- 
grounds. It  was  the  noisiest  place  in  the  whole 
yard." 


72  THE   BIRDS'   CONVENTION 

"What  ever  made  you  do  it?"  asked  suspicious 
Mrs.  Jay. 


Mrs.  Black-chinncd  Hummer 

"Well,  I  knew  about  this  Bird  Society  for  the 
children  while  I  was  about  in  the  winter-time.  Be- 
cause they  were  so  good  to  us.  I  learned  to  be  very 
fond  of  them.  I  used  to  watch  the  boys  play  ball 
and  the  girls  basket-ball  and  I  became  so  fascinated 
with  the  games  that  I  wanted  my  nest  where  I  could 
watch.  It  robs  brooding  of  its  tediousness  if  one  has 
something  of  great  interest  near  at  hand,  you  know." 

"How  ingenious  Mrs.  Hummer  is,"  whispered 
one  of  the  birds.  "I  never  thought  of  that." 

"The  children  found  me  when  I  first  began  to 
build,"  continued  the  tiny  Humming-bird,  "and  they 
would  stop  their  play  and  gather  around  to  watch 
me.  Their  teacher  would  often  be  with  them  and 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  73 

they  called  watching  me  their  'Nature  Study  lesson.' 
I  tell  you  if  you  once  get  a  party  of  children  inter- 
ested in  you,  you  are  pretty  safe.  They  guarded  me 

like  policemen  all  through  incubation  and  feeding 
•       »» 
time. 

"Did  you  really  raise  your  family  in  such  an  un- 
safe place?"  asked  Mr.  Jay. 

"Yes,  indeed!  There  they  are  with  me  today," 
and  she  pointed  to  two  other  Humming-birds  that 
were  in  the  assembly. 

"Mother  is  quite  right,"  said  one  of  them.  "We 
were  raised  among  those  dear  noisy  children  and  we 
love  them  so  much  that  we  are  going  to  raise  our 
families  there  this  next  year." 

"Well,  well,  I  declare,"  ejaculated  Mr.  Jay. 
"Truly  this  is  an  age  of  wonders." 

"The  children  in  our  school,  who  are  all  Audu- 
bonites,"  said  Mrs.  Linnet  "have  a  bird-shelf  out- 
side one  window  and  they  keep  food  and  a  cup  of 
water  out  for  us  all  the  time.  We  feed  there  and 
sometimes  fly  right  into  the  room  among  them,  and 
they  are  so  pleased  that  the  teacher  lets  them  stop 
study  and  watch  us." 

"I  guess  you  know  when  you  have  a  good  thing, 
Mrs.  Linnet,"  said  Mr.  Jay. 

"Indeed,  we  do!  We  also  build  our  nest  in 
plain  sight  and  the  children  watch  us  and  help  us 
raise  the  babies  by  bringing  food  for  us." 

"My  dear,  I  think  we  must  hunt  up  that  yard," 
said  Mrs.  Jay  to  her  mate. 

"Our  family  have  every  reason  to  love  the  Audu- 
bon  Society,"  said  Mr.  Western  Meadowlark.  "It 


74  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

was  the  Audubons  who  put  us  on  the  protected  list 
and  it  is  by  their  efforts  that  we  are  kept  there." 

"We,  too,  owe  much  to  this  Society,"  spoke  up 
Mrs.  Dove.     "We  are  game  birds,  you  know,  on 


Mrs.   Hummer  Feeding  Babies 

this  Western  Coast,  and  they  used  to  hunt  us  in  many 
places  while  our  young  were  still  in  the  nest,  but 
because  of  the  work  of  these  bird-lovers  the  laws  are 
gradually  getting  better  and  our  babies  are  given 
more  of  a  chance." 

"That  is  good!"  exclaimed  several. 

"Since  we  are  of  one  mind  in  regard  to  these  bird 
people,  I  wish  we  might  do  something  to  show  our 
appreciation,"  said  the  Chairman. 

"Human  beings  pass  resolutions,"  said  Mr. 
Blackbird,  "but  I  hardly  see  what  good  that  would 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  75 

do,  for  none  of  us  can  talk  or  write  English  to  let 
them  know  how  we  feel  or  what  we  have  done." 

"Perhaps  Mrs.  Pigeon  could,"  said  some  one  in 
the  audience. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Mr.  Mocker. 

"Well,  there  is  a  language  they  call  Pigeon  Eng- 
lish." 

This  caused  much  amusement  among  the  birds; 
also  much  mystification,  as  many  present  had  never 
heard  of  this  queer  language,  but  Mrs.  Pigeon  put 
them  all  at  ease  by  saying  she  knew  nothing  about 
this  mode  of  speaking,  and  she  felt  sure  that  no  mor- 
tal would  understand  her  coo. 

"I  have  an  idea,"  said  Mr.  Owl,  wisely. 

"Do  let  us  hear  it,"  said  Mr.  Mocker. 

"Well,  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Audubon  So- 
ciety lives  only  a  short  distance  from  here.  I  be- 
lieve it  will  be  fine  to  fly  up  there  and  serenade  her." 

"Glorious!"  "Splendid!"  "What  a  fine  idea! 
Mr.  Owl,"  came  from  the  birds. 

"Of  course,  I  would  not  care  to  go  in  this  bright 
sunlight,"  continued  Mr.  Owl,  "but  then  I  could 
only  hoot  anyway,  and  the  bird  lady  might  think 
that  I  was  making  fun  of  her." 

And  so  it  was  agreed  that  the  song-birds  of  the 
Assembly,  headed  by  the  Chairman,  should  go  in  a 
body  to  the  yard  and  all  sing  their  sweetest.  There 
was  great  confusion  as  they  flew  from  their  perches 
and  began  to  follow  their  leader. 

"We  will  all  go  as  quietly  as  possible  and  light  in 
one  of  the  big  pepper-trees  and  then,  when  I  give 


76  THE  BIRDS'   CONVENTION 


Master  and  Miss  Hummingbird 

the  signal,  all  sing  your  loudest  and  sweetest,"  said 
Mr.  Mocker,  as  they  flew  away. 

When  they  reached  the  yard,  they  were  delighted 
to  see  the  object  of  their  journey  lying  in  the  ham- 
mock under  one  of  the  big  pepper-trees  in  the  yard. 
Silently  they  settled  in  the  tree  above  her  head  and 
then  with  Mr.  Mocker's  first  note  they  poured  forth 
their  glorious  melody.  Instantly  the  lady  in  the 
hammock  was  awakened,  and  exclaimed  in  delight 
at  the  sight  of  so  many  birds  and  their  sweet  music. 

"Am  I  still  dreaming?"  she  asked,  as  she  looked 
up  and  beheld  so  many  favorites.  "There  is  a  Chat, 
oh,  isn't  he  beautiful — and  there  is  a  darling  Thrush. 
Just  hear  his  sweet  song.  What  an  exquisite  voice 
that  Kinglet  has.  And  there  is  a  Warbling  Vireo, 
I  do  believe.  And  several  Thrashers  and  Gros- 
beaks, and  Orioles,  and  a  gorgeous  Western  Tana- 
ger,  and  oh!  so  many  others.  Dear,  dear,  what  can 


THE    BIRDS      CONVENTION 


77 


it  mean?  I  do  believe  the  darlings  are  giving  me  a 
serenade."  And  with  that  idea  she  lay,  almost 
breathless,  lest  she  should  scare  them  away  or  miss 
any  of  the  glorious  music.  Several  times  she  pinched 
herself  to  be  sure  that  she  was  awake. 

After  about  twenty  minutes  of  this  chorus,  it 
ceased  as  quickly  as  it  had  begun,  and  led  by  the 
Mocker,  the  birds  flew  from  the  tree  back  to  the  Con- 
vention ground.  As  they  disappeared,  the  lady 
raised  in  the  hammock,  and  with  rapture  cried,  "It 
was  a  serenade !  Oh,  my  beauties!" 


Mrs.  Grosbeak's  Son 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FAREWELLS. 

When  the  birds  had  again  assembled  in  their  Con- 
vention trees,  Mr.  Mocker  called  them  to  order  and 
said  as  he  knew  some  of  them  were  anxious  to  be 
on  their  way,  he  believed  the  committees  had  better 
report  before  any  one  felt  obliged  to  go.  Then  if 
there  was  time  after  the  reports  they  would  hold  an 
informal  reception. 

He,  therefore,  called  upon  Mr.  Thrasher,  Chair- 
man of  the  Place  Committee,  for  his  report. 

"Mr.  Chairman,"  began  Mr.  Thrasher,  "Our 
committee  has  given  the  matter  of  a  suitable  meet- 
ing-place for  another  year,  its  careful  consideration, 
and  we  have  decided,  for  various  reasons,  that  right 
here  in  the  Arroyo  Seco  would  be  the  best  place. 
Not  only  is  there  running-water,  large  trees  of  many 
kinds,  shrubs,  underbrush,  and  vines — in  fact  every- 
thing that  we  birds  enjoy,  but,  added  to  that,  in  this 
section  of  the  country  birds  are  given  protection. 
We  might  find  suitable  localities  where  food-supplies 
would  be  abundant,  but  where  our  gatherings  would 
be  misunderstood,  and  small  boys  and  even  grown- 
ups, who  are  ignorant  of  our  economic  value,  would 
make  war  against  us.  And  so  it  seems  best  that  we 
should  let  well  enough  alone  and  hold  our  next 
meeting  here.'* 

"What  is  the  pleasure  of  the  meeting?"  asked  the 
Chairman. 

"I  move  the  committee's  report  be  accepted,"  said 
Mr.  Blackbird. 


THE    BIRDS*    CONVENTION  79 

"I  second  the  motion,"  came  from  Mr.  Towhee. 

Upon  the  Chairman  stating  the  motion  and  calling 
for  a  discussion  upon  it,  Mr.  Barn  Owl  said  he  had 
already  expressed  himself  on  the  value  of  protection. 
In  his  estimation,  all  things  considered,  no  better 
place  could  be  found. 

"I  think  this  is  a  very  suitable  place,"  said  Mr. 
W.  Tanager.  "I  am  sure  it  meets  the  requirements 
of  us  migrants.  It  is  just  a  good  resting-place  for 
us  on  our  Northern  trip.  We  always  want  to  rest 
a  day  or  two  somewhere,  and  this  seems  ideal  to  me." 

"Me  too,"  said  Mr.  Olive-sided  Flycatcher,  using 
the  slang  of  the  day. 

There  being  no  dissenting  voice,  the  President  put 
the  question,  which  was  unanimously  carried. 


Mr.  Mockingbird's  Son 


80  THE  BIRDS'  CONVENTION 

"Now,  as  to  spreading  the  news  of  the  next  Con- 
vention, I  hope  the  members  will  not  depend  entirely 
upon  the  special  committee  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose. It  would  be  impossible  for  it  to  circulate  the 
news  as  widely  as  we  wish,  so  please  all  of  you  who 
have  enjoyed  this  meeting,  tell  all  the  birds  you  meet 
this  year  about  it." 

"Mr.  President,"  said  Mr.  Barn  Owl.  "I  think 
I  voice  the  sentiment  of  this  assembly  when  I  say 
we  owe  you  a  vote  of  thanks." 

"Yes,  yes!"  came  from  the  audience. 

"I,  therefore,  desire  all  of  you  who  agree  with  me, 
to  rise  and  give  a  ringing  vote  of  thanks,"  continued 
Mr.  Owl. 

Instantly  every  bird  was  on  his,  or  her,  feet  and 
in  a  loud  voice,  calling  "Three  cheers  for  Mr.  Mock- 
ingbird!" which  were  given  with  heartiness  and  good- 
will. 

Mr.  Mockingbird  seemed  much  pleased  with  this 
tribute  paid  him,  and  began  to  thank  them  for  their 
goodwill. 

"The  success  of  this  Convention  is  due  to  those 
of  you  who  have  attended  and  responded  so  readily 
to  calls  for  information  and  testimonies.  I  want  to 
thank  you  all  for— 

Mr.  Mockingbird  suddenly  ceased  speaking  and 
those  nearest  him  saw  him  glance  upward  and  then 
with  a  wild,  warning  cry,  he  leaped  from  his  perch 
and  flew  frantically  into  a  near-by  thicket.  Instantly 
all  the  birds  were  paralyzed  with  fear,  and  the  great- 
est confusion  resulted.  Such  flying  against  each 
other,  such  screams  and  squeals  as  filled  the  air, 


THE    BIRDS'    CONVENTION  81 

such  turning  of  a  peaceful,  tranquil  meeting  into 
pandemonium  was  never  before  known  in  the  bird- 
world.  Wise  Mr.  Owl,  who  sat  in  a  dark  corner 
to  one  side  was  the  only  calm  one.  Instantly  he  knew 
he  was  beholding  a  "bird-man." 

"Well,  well,  I  declare,  he  does  pretty  well  for  a 
man.  But  he  does  make  an  awful  noise  and  fuss 
about  it.  He  can't  sail  along,  unheard,  as  I  do.  I 
guess,  though,  it  is  just  as  well  that  he  is  so  noisy 
for  had  he  come  quietly  he  would  have  landed  on 
top  of  us." 

In  vain  Mr.  Owl  tried  to  hoot  and  tell  his  com- 
panions that  this  "great  bird"  would  not  hurt  them, 
that  it  was  just  a  human  being  trying  to  fly,  but  he 
could  not  make  himself  heard  above  the  din. 

Finally,  however,  curiosity  overcoming  fear,  one 
by  one  the  birds  came  back  and  seeing  that  it  was, 
indeed,  only  a  man,  once  more  order  was  restored 
and  the  convention  brought  to  a  harmonious  ending. 


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